YELLOWSTONE COUNTY — It's been a week of windy weather across southeastern Montana and northern Wyoming, with the wind gusts on Wednesday reaching over 70 miles per hour, enough force to knock over power lines and cause outages.
See utilities crews cleaning up downed power lines:
"You know you get into that 70 plus miles an hour, it's going to do damage no matter what," said Brandon Wittman, the CEO and general manager of the Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative.
The intense weather left utility crews working nonstop on Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday to clean up the mess and restore electricity to affected areas. Wittman said his crews faced an "all hands on deck" situation as they worked to repair the downed power lines across Yellowstone County and the surrounding areas.
"It's bigger than people think. It's not just in the county of Yellowstone. It branches out quite a ways," said Wittman.
During Wednesday's storm, the Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative observed 40 poles damaged, including 17 poles on Wold Road near Laurel. By Friday, all downed poles had been picked up.
"It was a lot of work to get it back together... Boy, they really stepped up and got the work done for us," Wittman said.
On Friday, crews continued cleanup efforts, as they deframed, cut, and hauled downed power lines.
"It's really just what we call a mop-up day," Wittman said.
Wednesday's powerful winds also affected KTVQ's broadcasting. When fast wind gusts reached the KTVQ transmitter on Sacrifice Cliff in south Billings, the station lost signal for a couple hours after one of the power line connections broke and snapped.
"We have three-phase power coming into the building. We lost one of those phases of power... One of those connections had broken, snapped. So, we were down to not enough power," said KTVQ broadcast engineer Justin Hosa.
Hosa said utility crews with NorthWestern Energy stepped in to get a nearby power line running, putting KTVQ back on air.
"It's amazing what they did," he said. "Especially considering the wind, and they're working on live power. I mean, it's a job not for me."
Wittman emphasized the importance of safety around downed power lines, urging residents to call 911 if they see any on the ground.
"People see a power line on the ground, you just assume it's dead. And that's not always the case," he said.
The CEO said he's proud of his crews' dedication during the challenging weather event and plans to give them as much rest as possible once cleanup is complete.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
See MTN's previous reporting:
Seventeen power line poles down: Wind causes damage across Yellowstone County
Montana governor issues wind disaster executive order
Park Electric Cooperative continuing work to restore power
Park City school faces expensive repairs after wind damage to roof
Laurel woman recounts close call after tree falls onto her car during windstorm
