The power outages that hit Missoula on Monday were still being felt by many people two days later. NorthWestern Energy spokesman Butch Larcomb gave these numbers Wednesday, August 12.

"By the end of the day today we expect to have 1,800 people in the Linda Vista area without power," Larcomb said. "Overall we are still between 6-7,000 people without power this morning."

Larcomb said that the scattered outages across Missoula would likely be repaired by Wednesday evening, but that the same could not be said for the Linda Vista area.

"Up in the Miller Creek, Linda Vista area, we've got a separate more complicated problem," Larcomb said. "What we’re doing is we are having to rebuild the transmission line up there. I think a lot of people have seen photos or first hand the poles that have been knocked down up there. They are large complicated transmission poles and that line serves a substation that serves that whole area. We've been able to reroute some power to that area. We've brought in a portable generator and were working on a portable sub station and were probably be able to add another 500 to 600 homes with that equipment, but we are going to have to rebuild that transmission line to fully serve that area. Our goal is to have that full done by the end of the day Thursday."

At its peak, the outages are believed to have effected around 18,000 people. Larcomb said that the original estimate that 60 power lines were knocked down during the storm is probably a low estimate.

 

More From 96.9 Zoo FM