RAVALLI COUNTY — Some residents in Ravalli County are still without power two days after the storm. But Ravalli Electric Co-op is working hard to restore the outages.
Ravalli Electric Co-op serves roughly 9,300 people across the county. Wednesday’s storm initially took out power, mainly from trees falling on lines, for 4,000 people from Sula to Florence.
But crews are diligently working to restore power for the remaining members, with 13 linemen working around the clock and office staff stepping in to bring parts to them.
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Restoring the power for the remaining members comes with challenges however.
“With a limited number of special utility equipment to be able to replace those poles, along with a limited amount of crew we have working, even though everyone's working, it just takes time to get from spot to spot. Also, we're dealing with the really wet ground right now. So that makes getting to the poles in the mud and soft ground and also setting those poles really difficult. So just again, more time-consuming than usual,” said Melissa Greenwood, communications manager for Ravalli Electric Co-op.
Crews are working diligently to restore power to the remaining members but with poor weather conditions and limited staff and equipment, there is no set timeline yet.
In their Friday update, Ravalli Electric said based on current work plans and restoration efforts taking place now, the following outage areas are expected to be restored later Friday night: Eastside Highway, Log Cabin Lane, Sleepy Hollow, Oxbow.
Ravalli Electric said Dickson Creek, Christian Creek and other East and West Fork areas are still being assessed for damages to find the source of outages as this is proving to be challenging. These and all other areas still out of power will not be restored tonight, so please make proper arrangements.
For updates check Ravalli Electric's website.
