Wind pounds Finley Point

FINLEY POINT — Winds hammered the Flathead Lake area during a storm Sunday, knocking out power to more than 500 homes.

According to the National Weather Service, gusts were recorded at speeds of up to 75 mph, with winds staying in the 40 to 50 mph range in places.

The total number of homes that lost power was not available Monday, according to Mission Valley Power officials, but the number exceeded 500 residences, including nearly 350 homes on Finley Point.

Power was restored to most homes by noon on Monday, with many service trucks working to repair phone and electrical lines.

Finley Point fire chief Rob Morigeau said that his department responded to two incidents during the storm. One was a car that had been caught in a falling telephone cable near Bigfork and the other was a tree that fell, taking a powerline with it.

Morigeau said during wind storms like Sunday’s, there is a worry about downed lines starting fires, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

“We definitely had the winds for it but the power was being knocked out as the trees fell,” he said.

Winds blew so hard an entire fence was blown over on Finley Point, Morigeau said.

The storm struck close to home for Dan and Wendi Giles, caretakers of a 14-acre property on Skidoo Bay. They experienced a total of six towering trees falling during the storm, including one that crashed on a maintenance shed.