'Very unusual event': Helena picks up the pieces after severely damaging windstorm

The windstorm might be over, but the Helena area is still reeling from battering gusts that ripped trees, tore buildings and downed power lines Wednesday.

West Valley Fire Rescue saw rollovers, medical emergencies and trees crashing into houses, it said on Facebook late Wednesday. It said it was grateful severe injuries hadn’t been reported thus far.

“Today has been an exceptionally challenging day for us at West Valley and other responders across Montana, yet we have risen to the occasion with unwavering resilience,” its post said. “I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to the members of our department for their inspiring service and unwavering dedication in the face of extremely hazardous conditions.”

Across Montana, multiple fundraisers have been started to recover from damages. In Helena, Christopher Hurley launched a GoFundMe after two massive trees and a tree house crushed his family home.

"The damage to the back side of our home is extensive, and it’s left us feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about how to move forward, especially during what should be a joyful season," Hurley wrote.

City of Helena response

The local 911 dispatch center received 1,029 phone calls, which is roughly a 300% increase from the daily average. That resulted in 505 calls for service, which is a record for the dispatch center, according the Amanda Opitz, public information officer for the city.

A snapshot of yesterday’s calls for service include:

• 131 downed power lines calls
• 9 vehicle rollover calls
• 98 public safety and road hazard calls

The Helena Fire Department had every unit staffed and running on back-to-back calls, including three engines, two rescue units, two wildland units, four command units, one ladder truck and about 27 of the 38 total staff.

"My God, we called in everybody," said Mike Chambers, assistant chief.

The Helena Police Department had a similar situation. They were running back-to-back calls and had to bring in additional personnel and had several officers pulling extra shifts.

The entire city streets staff was out all day and most of the evening clearing blocked streets or closing streets where there were dangerous conditions.

"That team continues to address these same issues today and, likely, for the coming days," Opitz said.

The City Urban Forestry team is reporting that they have at least 100 requests in the queue and the number is growing, but they’re working in tandem with parks and open lands staff and the streets division to address critical areas.

On Thursday, they started with prioritizing areas around schools to make sure that children walking to school were safe. Then they will move on to arterial right-of-way tree clean-up and then move to residential.

The city arborists say they’re seeing a larger number of complete tree failures in this storm than incidental tree damage.

County emergency declaration

Kyle Sturgill-Simon, Lewis and Clark County emergency manager, told the commissioners Thursday that 1,180 county residents were still without power following a windstorm that ripped through the area a day earlier.

He also said the county was reporting a lot of right of ways with trees blocking passage. He said they would be pushed to the side of the road.

“We have quite a bit of work to do …” he said, regarding the trees.

The commissioners then passed a resolution presented by Sturgill-Simon declaring a state of emergency due to an extreme weather event.

The resolution states the windstorm impacted the region and threatened to damage a large number of residences, transportation and public infrastructure.

It also says the county has committed all possible resources and taken all possible action to combat and alleviate the situation and that local resources are not “adequate to cope with the situation.”

Restoration is essential to ensure the health, safety and welfare of county residents, the resolution states.

Commissioner Andy Hunthausen noted that such a resolution was necessary in order to ask for significant assistance.

Sturgill-Simon said he believed four other counties have passed similar resolutions so far.

He said a survey would be going out later Thursday to catalog damages.

He said officials were looking at management of debris removal “which will take quite some time.”

Sturgill-Simon said the state Department of Emergency Services and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation have offered assistance.

He said emergency responders were pushed “to the max” Wednesday and worked late into the night “and the work is not done yet.”

He said the state of emergency continues until the chair deems it is no longer necessary.

On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Gianforte issued an executive order declaring a wind disaster. The executive order authorizes the use of state services and funds to address issues caused by this event.

Jefferson County hit hard

Jefferson County Sheriff Tom Grimsrud said a small portion of Montana City had power, but there was no power south of Montana City to south of Boulder.

He said Whitehall had power.

And he said there was an area of Jefferson City where people not only did not have power but did not have phone service as well.

He said an emergency trailer has been set up in Boulder in which people can charge their cellphones.

Grimsrud said patrol sizes have been increased and his department is working with emergency personnel to deliver more services.

NorthWestern Energy has not been able to offer and estimate as to when electricity will be restored, he said. His department plans to post updates online.

Grimsrud said the weather has been milder so far this winter and residents have been handling the situation well, so far.

“I don’t sense panic because they are a resilient bunch, but once the temperature starts dropping there will be concern,” he said. “I see a lot of neighbors helping neighbors.”

Parts of Lincoln lose power

Many people in Lincoln were without power Thursday after a major NorthWestern Energy transmission line went down alongside "thousands and thousands" of trees, Lincoln Volunteer Fire Chief Zach Muse said.

"It's a mess," Muse said.

The transmission line is a major priority, Sturgill-Simon said, but those without power shouldn't expect restored service fast.

It's not a total blackout, Muse said. He's encouraging residents to help their neighbors. The fire station is providing buckets of water to those who can't access their wells.

"It's the neighbors you don't talk to that might need your help," he said.

Sturgill-Simon said emergency response has taken a similar approach. Services in the area, including medical, are collaborating to help where outages and resources are cutting short, he said.

What meteorologists are saying

On Thursday morning meteorologists at the National Weather Service office in Great Falls were still trying to piece together the data from Wednesday's windstorm. Power outages at weather stations have made the data sets more difficult to compile.

“It will be a day or two before we get everything truly compiled,” Cody Moldan, lead meteorologist for NWS Great Falls, said. “The power outages have made things trickier. With the more automated systems it's going to take extra time.”

But, what they do know is that the wind was within their forecast but on the higher, less probable end.

“It panned out how we were expecting it to,” Moldan said. “The winds were on the higher spectrum of the ensemble. Up around the 90th percentile, meaning there was only a 10% chance of hitting those gusts.”

Unofficially, the highest gust in the Great Falls office’s coverage area was 104 mph just west of Bynum Reservoir. Deep Creek Pass on the Rocky Mountain Front hit 101 mph and Judith Peak saw 94 mph.

The highest gust record at the Helena Regional Airport was 81 mph before the power went out. That number is likely to change as meteorologists access the archived data during the outage, Moldan said.

A citizen weather reporter recorded a 90 mph in Helena’s South Hills.

“This was a widespread, very unusual event,” Moldan said. “We see these events every five to 10 years. These are definitely not common, run-of-the-mill wind days.”

The pattern does not change going into the new year, most likely with periods of wind and some cooler temperatures. At least for the next 8-14 days there will be above-normal precipitation and above-normal temperatures

“We have been underneath a very prevailing westerly flow,” Moldan said. “Which is why we have been getting more rain due to this persistent atmospheric river event.”

This story will be updated throughout the day.