Gianforte declares disaster after storm wallops Mineral County
A powerful wind and rainstorm knocked over trees across Missoula and Mineral counties last month. (Daily Montanan photo)
Gov. Greg Gianforte issued an executive order last week declaring a disaster in Missoula and Mineral counties.
“A recent severe thunderstorm toppled trees and downed power poles in the Missoula area, leaving too many residents without power. I appreciate the rapid response of our electric cooperatives to restore power to affected communities,” Gianforte said. “Today’s disaster declaration is a next step to help residents and coops in the area recover.”
On July 24, a severe thunderstorm – with wind speeds of 81 mph, lightning, heavy rain, and gusts up to 109 mph – caused damages to power poles across western Montana leaving tens of thousands of customers of Missoula Electric and Northwestern Energy without power.
The city, counties and electrical cooperatives have expended considerable amounts of resources and manpower in taking all possible actions to respond, mitigate, repair and alleviate the situation safely and quickly, the Governor’s Office said.
With the disaster declaration issued, the state of Montana will expend funds from the general fund to meet contingencies and needs arising from these conditions and help impacted communities get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
For the latest updates from Missoula County, see here. For nonemergency public inquiries on restoration and assistance, please call 406-258-4636.