NorthWestern Energy line crews were deployed across Billings as a severe wind event caused widespread power outages, downed trees and blew over fences throughout the city.
Molly Schwend, Northwestern Energy community relations manager, said crews had advance warning of the storm and were ready.
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"We need to be ready for, but like today, we definitely have our crews out and around town ready for anything to happen," Schwend said.
Schwend said the forewarning made a difference in how crews were able to respond.
"It works out well today because, I mean, we were given this forewarning, and we were able to prepare our crews," Schwend said.
Part of that preparation involves NorthWestern Energy meteorologist Matthew Sargent.
"We have a high-impact wind event," Sargent said.
Having an in-house meteorologist helps Northwestern Energy respond to both wind events and wildfires, Schwend said.
"Part of our wildfire mitigation plan just because storms and wind have caused an issue for us with our lines, and we want to make it safer so we don't cause any fires," Schwend said.
At Ponderosa Elementary School in Billings, the outage lasted roughly 90 minutes but had a limited impact on the school day, according to Principal Alison Evertz.
"The power went out at Ponderosa School for just a little bit, but it really didn't affect things too much. They were able to get things done and have pretty much normal classes and take care of all the kids," Evertz said.
Evertz said the school was equipped to handle the situation.
"Fortunately we did have backup lighting. We had water, so we had a lot of the critical needs that were, you know, met," Evertz said.
She said students took the unusual situation in stride.
"More than anything, the kids got a little excited and they were a bit rambunctious because it's out of the norm and out of the ordinary," Evertz said.
She said staff training and protocols helped the school navigate the outage smoothly.
"From a training and protocol perspective, we have a lot of safeguards in place. It was reassuring to me and the kitchen crew was able to serve lunch despite not having power for cooking," Evertz said.
The kitchen staff improvised to make sure students were fed.
"They were able to quickly and hurriedly make 250 sandwiches, so that was, you know, them hustling too, but we got lunch and the students were able to eat in the lunchroom because again, a lot of natural lighting," Evertz said.
Evertz said severe wind events have become a more frequent challenge for the school and the city.
"We've seen a lot more, especially with our December storm and now this, it's, it's been something we've had to deal with more in Billings," Evertz said.
Some outages were expected to last well into the night or through the morning.
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