Missoula residents urged to stay home post wind event

As of Thursday morning at 9 a.m. there were still thousands of people within the Missoula Valley with no electricity, and residents are asked to limit their water for irrigation as the city water pumps works on backup generators. Several grocery stores were unable to sell perishable goods because their refrigerators were not functioning.

Currently, the city and the county are in the “assessment phase” of damages and needs for response, according to Nick Holloway, the deputy Disaster and Emergency Service coordinator for Missoula County. 

Holloway said the city and county have prioritized restoring power to the region while identifying areas where people can unload debris from the storm event. 

The storm event, which hit Missoula at around 9 p.m., created 80-mph wind gusts at the Missoula International Airport and caused widespread damage to western Montana. A weather station on Mount Sentinel recorded a 109-mph gust.

Holloway said the airport and Missoula’s hospitals appear to be in OK condition. The city and county are still assessing damage to other facilities.

Other infrastructure like streetlights are still shuttered as Northwestern Energy works to restore power.

Residents are asked to be cautious while driving and to treat any offline intersection as a four-way stop, like using a stop sign, Holloway said.

NorthWestern Energy said it has already restored electricity to more than 20,000 customers in the Missoula, St. Regis and the Bitterroot areas as of 7 a.m. on Thursday.

The utility company’s outage map still shows thousands of offline customers. Missoula Electric Cooperative is reporting 14,000 people without power as of 9:15 a.m. Thursday. Several internet providers also reported outages Wednesday night into Thursday morning, with sporadic returns of service. 

NWE also cautioned about potential gas pipeline leaks, which could rupture with the uprooting of larger trees. Missoula’s Police Department said residents should stay away from any downed powerlines and and report any broken or damaged wires.

Missoula’s Police Department, the City’s Communication Director and Holloway all asked residents to stay home if possible. All “nonessential” city and county employees are being asked to to work Thursday.

Holloway added that people should consider checking on their neighbors.

“It’s important to make sure everyone is OK, especially those with functional mobility needs,” Holloway said. 

As for water, city officials said the water system is doing better after crews managed to clear trees that blocked the backup generators to refuel the system, but the city is asking residents to not irrigate outside. 

“Regular inside water use is okay,” City Communications Director Ginny Merriam said.

As Missoulians get moving Thursday, some streets are still impassable. Holloway said chainsaw crews are working through the city to clear large trees that have fallen. A 3-foot-wide spruce tree was blocking Spruce Street a block away from the St. Patrick Hospital, making emergency access complicated.

Much of the University of Montana campus has no power this morning, according to a release signed by President Seth Bodnar. 

“While campus will open today on schedule, we encourage all UM employees to work with their managers this morning about working in a posture that is flexible,” Bodnar said in the release. “For those of you who can work remotely today, please do so and coordinate with your supervisor.”

The city, county, and other government partners are creating an incident command post Thursday morning that will centralize emergency communications.

“At this time we do not have any reported injuries or fatalities related to the storm last night within the city,” Whitney Bennett, the MPD Public Information officer said.

This story will be updated.