Missoula County employees work with Missoula Electric Cooperative linemen to clear the corner of Elm Drive and Cedar Lane and restore power to the Seeley Lake neighborhood after Monday night's windstorm.
A home on Wagon Wheel Way was hit by multiple trees Monday night.
Missoula County Electric linemen worked through the night to restore power to the more than 2,800 customers in the Seeley-Swan who were without power.
Ron and Nancy Michaelson's cabin on Snowmass Drive was hit by two of the 11 trees that fell on their property in Monday night's windstorm. Ron was sitting on the front porch and was pinned against the cabin until he was able to crawl out. Three trees demolished one of their bunkhouses (right).
A power pole snapped in half along Boy Scout Road.
A garage that was hit by the top of a tree on Overland Trail in Seeley Lake.
SEELEY LAKE - Paul Benbow, former Seeley Lake resident who currently lives in Missoula, had an "intense" experience during the heavy thunderstorm Sunday, June 13.
According to the Seeley Lake Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) near the Seeley Lake Airport, temperatures reached 90 degrees by 5 p.m. However as the predicted cold front hit, temperatures dropped 30 degrees and winds hit gusts of up to 39 miles per hour by 7 p.m. The RAWS at Clearwater Junction recorded wind gusts up to 42 miles per hour at 7 p.m.
The Lolo National Forest reported hundreds of large trees fell down across the Seeley Lake Ranger District due to wind. The Seeley Lake Fire Department volunteers responded to more than a dozen calls for trees down across roads, trees in power lines, trees on fire and people trapped by downed trees from Highway 200 along Highway 83 north of Seeley Lake and up in the Double Arrow Ranch.
Benbow and his wife were returning to the parking lot after hiking Morrell Falls when the storm hit. As they began driving back towards Seeley, numerous dead trees had fallen onto the road and blocked the path.
"I've been in the mountains all my life and I've gone through some insane storms but I have never in my entire life seen so many trees drop in such a short amount of time," he said. "I would say in the immediate area that we were in, within about a five at most 10 minute time span, there were at least 30 trees that had dropped all in that area. ... It was literally trees just snapping, cracking and falling all around us."
He said they tried to change directions and head north towards Holland Lake however after a couple hundred yards they saw that more trees had fallen onto the road and they were trapped.
It then began raining heavily. After waiting out the rain, Benbow called 9-1-1. He said there was some confusion at Dispatch as to what county they fell under but afterwards it was determined that they were still in Missoula County.
Considering road conditions like fallen trees and powerlines, Benbow thought that it would take a while for help to arrive so he began using his hunting knife and paracords to move a tree out of the way.
Fortunately Missoula County Sheriff's Department Deputy Ryan Dunster arrived at the scene about half an hour later with a chainsaw and began cutting the tree.
Dunster described the experience as "a bad night."
"That's the worst windstorm I think I've seen since I've been up here," he said. "There was one a few months ago that was close but this one here I think took the cake."
According to Benbow, Dunster told him that he had already cut through several trees earlier in the road as he was making his way up. As Benbow helped Dunster remove the last tree, another gentleman approached them and said that he and several others were also stuck further up the road.
Dunster had the man ride with him back so they could finish clearing the road. Benbow said the man had no cell service where he was trapped.
Benbow said he was grateful to Dunster as well as the Missoula County Sheriff's Office as a whole for their quick response time.
"I was really impressed," he said. "They got up there within about a half an hour or so after we had called 9-1-1. And as we were driving out we got to see all the trees that the Sheriff officer had to cut through to get up to us and to get to the other people that were trapped up the road behind us."
Missoula Electric Cooperative reported that over 2,800 customers, 97% of District 5 from Seeley Lake to Condon, were experiencing a power outage by 9 p.m. Monday night. MEC crews worked through the night fixing lines and broken power poles. At 9 a.m. Monday, June 14 there were still nearly 200 customers without power in Seeley Lake. By 12:30 p.m. more reports came in and the figure was raised to 371 or almost 13% of District 5.
According to the Lolo National Forest, as of Monday morning no injuries were reported. However falling trees damaged some vehicles and structures.
To report downed trees across roadways, campgrounds or trailheads to the Seeley Lake Ranger Station call 406-677-2233. If a homeowner is experiencing a power outage, then he or she should call MEC at 406-541-4433.
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