Because of its location, Cory's Valley Market sometimes has power when most of Seeley Lake doesn't.
The community of Seeley Lake is no stranger to long power outages. Fortunately, there are many resources available in town for when the power goes out.
Cory's Valley Market is located right across from a substation. This location means the business has power as long as the substation has power. It sometimes has power when a lot of Seeley Lake doesn't, which was the case after the long power outage that resulted from the wind storm on Aug. 23.
"We try to stay open if we can," says Cory Thompson, owner of Cory's Valley Market.
Having power means Cory's can sell important resources, like water and ice. People can also get flashlights and food that can be cooked without electricity.
The store also has a generator for when they do lose power, but it operates at a limited capacity. For the most part, Cory's has a reliable power source.
NAPA Auto Parts has supplies that can be helpful when the power is out. The business sells oil that can be used for generators. NAPA also sells gas that can be used for chainsaws, which are useful when power outages are caused by wind storms that leave behind substantial debris.
NAPA also sells smaller helpful items like toilet paper, rechargeable light bulbs and power cords.
Rovero's has power cords and gasoline. The business also sells lanterns, batteries and water.
When power is out many restaurants have to close because they are unable to cook. However, both the Chicken Coop and Filling Station make an effort to keep their bars open during outages. During the last long power outage, the Chicken Coop bar staff used headlamps to keep the bar open.
The north side of town - where there is a substation near Big Larch Campground - is usually one of the first places to have power restored. This means businesses and restaurants in the area, like The Ice Cream Place and Grizzly Claw, can quickly get back on track.
The Ice Cream Place closed early on Aug. 23, the day of the storm, because it was out of power. The next day the business posted on Facebook that it had power and was open for business.
The Grizzly Claw was able to open for business as usual on Aug. 24. After an outage of seven hours, they were able to provide access to coffee for people who couldn't make it at home. The Grizzly Claw was also able to offer WiFi.
Restored power doesn't automatically mean businesses are able to resume operation. The cause of a power outage can have a big impact on that process. This was the case for the BBQ Pit on Aug. 24. Storm damage and not being able to prepare food in advance meant the restaurant was closed while a lot of the businesses around it were open.
The Seeley Swan Pharmacy isn't able to open without power because of how much of its operations depend on electricity. However, Pharmacist Karen Dove had some advice for how people can store medications without power.
The first thing she suggested was knowing at what temperature medications need to be stored. Some medications can go a short time at room temperature, while others need to remain in a consistent, cooler state.
For medications that need to stay cold, Dove recommended using ice or surrounding the medications with frozen objects to keep them cold.
Another thing Dove recommended was having an idea of when power might come back on. If you know you're in an area that takes longer to get power restored, consider going somewhere that already has power and see if you can store your medication there, Dove said.
The main thing Dove encouraged was being prepared.
"It's our way of life here," Dove said. "It's going to happen, so get prepared now."
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