UPDATE
HAMILTON - The Ravalli County Sheriff's Office is advising motorists to use caution as power outages have hit many stoplights in the Bitterroot Valley.
Drivers are being urged to use caution.
An alert sent out on Monday afternoon by the Sheriff's Office notes that there have been several reports of near accidents in the area pf Woodside Cutoff Road and U.S. Highway 93.
(second report: 12:49 p.m. - Sept. 7, 2020)
The Ravalli Electric Cooperative reports that high winds has caused several power outages in the Bitterroot Valley.
The Cooperative stated in a social media post that all available linemen have been dispatched and are working to get the power restored as soon as possible.
The earlier widespread outages in the Florence and Stevensville area have been resolved.
However, as of 12:45 p.m., an outage in Hamilton was impacting 560 NorthWestern Energy customers in the Hamilton area.
Click here for the latest NorthWestern Energy power outage reports.
(first report: 11:42 a.m. - Sept. 7, 2020)
A power outage has knocked over 3,000 people in parts of the Bitterroot into the dark.
Ravalli Electric Cooperative reports a problem with a NorthWestern Energy feeder line has knocked out power in the Florence and Stevensville areas.
A little over 100 are without power in the Victor area as well.
A little over 2,000 members are without power in Stevensville while over 1,000 members have been affected in the Florence area.
The Cooperative reports NorthWestern Energy is working to get the power rerouted and restored.
Click here for the latest power outage information.
Additionally, the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office is reporting powerlines and trees have come down in Victor area.
People are asked to avoid the Sweathouse Creek Road area near Dorothy Lane as well as the Bear Creek Road area near Nighthawk Trail.
