Missoula Electric Co-op Manager Describes Response to Storm

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On Wednesday’s Talk Back show, I spoke to Mark Hayden, General Manager of the Missoula Electric Co-op about their response to last week’s extreme thunderstorm and the accompanying destructive winds.

Hayden said the Co-op was already prepared for red flag warnings that night, and the storm hit just after 9:00 p.m.

Missoula Electric Co-op's Response to Wednesday's Storm

“At the end of the event, probably by 9:30 p.m. only three of our 16 delivery points had power,” began Hayden. “We had lines on the ground, and as you can imagine, Mullan Road was the hardest hit area. Crews spent the entire evening just clearing our power lines off of Mullan Road but also across our entire system; Big Flat and the Virginia Drive area were particularly hard hit. The Lolo Creek area was also torn down in so many places.”

Hayden further described the storm’s destruction that night.

“Florence, Potomac, Swan Lake, Seeley Lake, Evaro Hill, you name it,” he said. “The only areas that weren't really damaged were the far western part of our system, in Tarkio and Superior in the east. We had a fair amount of damage around Clinton and Turah as well, but, it was, it was unprecedented, to say the least.”

Hayden Said Help Poured Into the Co-op From All Directions

Hayden praised the response from other area co-ops just after the storm blew through.

“At the co-op, we have an emergency response plan,” he said. “We have contact information for those who can come to our aid, and we are so fortunate to be part of this cooperative family across Montana. When we have a problem, there are people ready to come to our aid, and thank goodness for that. We had three crews from Flathead Electric join us. We had crews from Ravalli Electric Cooperative, Mission Valley Power in Pablo, Lincoln Electric Cooperative, Vigilante Electric, and Inland Power. They were all here and ready to help when we needed it.”

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Along with manpower, Hayden said materials began pouring in.

“With the amount of materials required to rebuild these power lines, we don't always keep that much in stock,” he said. I must give a shout-out to our material suppliers, Border States, and Rural Electric Supply Co-Op. We had loads of poles coming out of Lethbridge, Canada, and out of Laurel, Montana. We had truckloads of materials coming out of their warehouses in here the next day.”

Of 17,000 Meters, Over 15,000 Were Without Power From the Storm

He said 15,000 of the over 17,000 electric meters were without power. The only area still without power is on Snowdrift Lane along Mullan Road.

Click here for the latest outage updates from Missoula Electric Co-op.