Strong storm hits Seeley Lake and surrounding area

A brief but powerful storm blew through Seeley Lake on Friday, knocking down many trees and power lines in the process.

The storm left most of the town without power due to damaged powerlines. An essential-only driving request made by the Missoula 911 center on Friday evening was lifted on Saturday morning.

Missoula Electric Cooperative (MEC) was on the scene Saturday in Seeley Lake and Condon working on cleanup, repairs and pole replacements.

Residents were also working to clean up the debris in their yards following the storm MTN spoke with a resident in one of the most affected areas and he said the recovery from this storm has been a group effort.

“Last night everyone was checking on the neighbors making sure they were okay, needed any help you know,” Dan Smrdel “But it was a storm, and everybody was concerned about their own place naturally, and their own families and such. And they reached out to neighbors and…you help where you could and try to get ready to spend the night with no electricity and probably the next couple of days the way it looks.”

More than 1,600 power outages were being reported from Seeley Lake to Condon as of Saturday afternoon. The latest Missoula Electric Cooperative power outage information can be found here.