Storm of the Century: A responder's first-hand account

By MIKE RICHESON

Bigfork Eagle

When the storm hit last Wednesday, I was doing what I normally do in the evening: Swimming down at Wayfarers Park. The sky began to grow increasingly dark, and I could see lightning flashing above the cloud layer.

What had been a calm evening suddenly grew windy, and Flathead Lake began to grow choppy. Most people were packing up their things and heading to their cars.

Just as I got back to shore, I heard dispatch come over my pager. I couldn't believe my ears. Did she really just say that there was a tornado warning in Lake County? Apparently, someone had actually seen a funnel touch down near Polson.

When interesting situations come up, I usually have one thought: "Get your camera. Now."

I raced home and grabbed my gear and headed back down to Wayfarers. Flathead Lake was a writhing surface of whitecaps, and the sky was nearly black. A few people were left, and they were quickly packing up and moving out. I ran out to the dock to grab a few photos, and the wind caught me by surprise.

I nearly took another swim. I steadied my feet as the wind howled.

As I turned to shoot a few frames toward Bigfork, a sneaker wave exploded against the dock and swamped me from head to toe.

I decided to leave.

Before I could reach my car, my pager went crazy.

Dispatch was relaying more calls than I could keep up with. In the midst of it all, Bigfork Fire was paged to respond to Bethany Lutheran Church, where a downed power line had supposedly set a tree on fire.

I jumped in my car and stopped by the church before responding to the fire hall. Woods Bay resident Paul Rana was coming out of the church after a Lake County zoning meeting. I quickly asked if anyone had seen a tree start on fire because I couldn't see it anywhere.

No one could say exactly where this phantom blaze was, and I couldn't find it after a brief search, so I hopped back in my car and headed to the hall.

By the time I arrived, the engine was already on its way to Bethany, and six or seven other volunteer firefighters were standing in their turnouts awaiting orders.

Dispatchers were still trying to keep their heads above water. Dozens and dozens of calls were flooding in from across Flathead County.

Confusion began to poke its head into the process. One exasperated dispatcher responded to someone: "We're just trying to keep up."

Suddenly, a little after 8 p.m., Bigfork lost power. What we didn't know was that Ferndale, the Swan Valley and the east shore lost power at the same moment.

Three calls came in almost simultaneously to Bigfork: A downed power line on Holt Drive, a boat rescue near Woods Bay and a downed line that was causing trouble.

Chuck Harris, Bigfork's fire chief, began a night that resembled a tennis match, but one in which he was playing against multiple opponents.

Harris began to prioritize the calls and sent crews out to try and get a handle on the situation.

The fire hall lost power as well, and firefighters had to unhook the large bay doors and lift them manually.

Captain Fred Sterhan and I hopped in Rescue and made our way down Holt looking for a downed power line. The problem with these types of calls is that they are usually vague. So in the dark sky, with wind whipping branches and grass all over the road, we were trying to find what we thought was a single line.

Downed power lines can be especially dangerous. You don't want to drive over them, and you don't want them falling on your head or vehicle.

As we drew near to the Post Office, we still didn't see anything. Up ahead, a line of cars was quickly turning around and coming back our way.

"Umm, that may be it," I said.

Sure enough. A tree a couple of feet in diameter had been blown down due to high winds at the intersection of Holt Drive and Eagle Bend Drive. Winds were blowing from 70 to 80 mph with gusts up to 100 mph.

When the tree came down, it took two power poles with it, including a large transmission pole. This is what had caused the power outage for miles. Large power lines covered the road like giant snakes.

Sterhan and I secured the east side of Holt Drive and Eagle Bend Drive by blocking both roads with cones and stop signs.

Thankfully, Captain Steve Hopp and firefighter James Comstock arrived on the west side of the downed lines in the engine from the Echo Lake station and secured the other side of Holt Drive.

Holt is a busy road any time of the day, and we were frequently turning cars around. The sky was ablaze the lightning. There seemed to be a constant, 360-degree view of lightning.

Someone from Flathead Electric showed up and began clearing the lines off the road.

I have to admit, high-voltage lines make me nervous, but either these Flathead Electric guys know something I don't, or they are fearless. I would not want that job under any circumstances, but they always show up quickly and take care of their lines.

It took nearly 19 hours before power was restored to Bigfork, Ferndale, the Swan Valley and the east shore. At about 4 p.m. on Thursday, the main stoplight on Highway 35 began blinking again.

That night, more than 30 power poles went down - 16 of them on Lower Valley Road.

While two crews were working on Holt, more calls were coming in. Firefighters from the Woods Bay station had responded to the boat rescue, and others were checking on houses with trees on them, two more downed line calls and a smoke alarm.

Five trucks were out with 18 volunteers at the same time.

All across the valley, calls were still pouring in. More than 3,600 people reported power loss. A group of Boy Scouts on Melita island found themselves in trouble when trees began falling on their tents. Thankfully, everyone escaped injury.

A water spout had swamped a boat on Flathead Lake. Again, no injuries.

Sterhan and I returned to the hall around 10 p.m. Chief Harris was still trying to communicate with all the crews and dispatch.

Finally, there was a lull in the storm, but the weather service said another cell was about to hit. Luckily, the violence of the first cell didn't play out again, but lightning and high winds continued throughout the night. Between 3,500 and 4,500 lightning strikes flashed over northwest Montana during the storm.

Many of us stayed at the fire hall waiting for the second wave of calls. We leaned against fire trucks, ate cherries and wandered around with flashlights. Dispatch finally began to see light at the end of the tunnel as calls slowed and problems were quickly corrected.

The last storm-related call in the Bigfork area came in at 7:37 a.m. Thursday, nearly 12 hours after the first call.

One of the strongest storms in recent memory blew into town, wreaked havoc and then quickly disintegrated.

The storm was interesting, to say the least, but let's wait another 20 or 30 years for the next one.