Other than the wind, the roar of chain saws cleaning up fallen and damaged trees was the predominant sound in south Lincoln County Thursday morning following a severe wind storm.

School classes were cancelled for Libby and Troy Public Schools as well as Kootenai Christian School and the Libby campus of the Flathead Valley Community College.

Lincoln County officials issued a travel restriction early Thursday morning, asking citizens to avoid driving on area roads unless it was necessary. 

But that was lifted at 11:38 a.m. 

Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short said he had not heard of any injuries related to the storm.

"We sustained a lot of property damage, but no injuries, thankfully," Short said.

Officials still asked for patience with power, road and emergency crews that are dealing with power outages as well as trees and power lines in the roads.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Boyd White said the Bear Creek area, Bobtail, Kootenai River Road and Farm to Market Road had been hit pretty hard with downed trees, lines and property damage.

"The Forest Service has been out helping with cleanup work in addition to our county crews," White said.

In terms of how the cleanup work will be paid for, White said the county may not have to seek a Major Disaster Declaration for what it has to do.

"Private properties are something separate while Flathead Electric may able to join other co-ops in pursuing federal dollars for the repair work they need to do," White said.

The Montana Department of Transportation reported a number of downed trees and power lines on U.S. 2, Highways 56 and 200 in the predawn hours Thursday.

In the Happy's Inn area, Flathead Electric crews were working to restore power and linemen advised that some downed lines are still charged and cautioned people to stay away from any down trees over the powerlines.

Also, the Fisher River Valley Fire Station 1 is staffed if anyone needs to charge any medical devices or electronic devices. Water is also available.

Thursday’s storm followed difficult road conditions Tuesday after snow that left area roads slushy and icy. One accident was reported Tuesday on Highway 37 near the Libby Dam. Reportedly no one was injured.

Thousands of homes were without power after the storm swept through in the early morning hours Thursday. It's the second wind storm Northwest Montana has endured in the last three months.

A massive windstorm the week before Christmas 2025, also left thousands without power, some for nearly a week.

According to the Flathead Electric outage map, nearly 2,700 locations in Lincoln County were without power as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday. In Flathead County, the total was approximately 1,100.

Flathead Electric provided a statement at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, saying  it had mutual aid heading to Libby with two extra crews from Rocky Mountain Contractors.

“Crews have made progress this morning and overall we have about 3,800 members without power, which is down from this morning’s 4,300 peak. At this point everything has pretty much been or is in the process of being patrolled, and crews are plugging away across our service area,” an official said.

Progress Report

McGregor Lake: Crews are encountering quite a few broken poles in the Highway 2 corridor between Libby and McGregor Lake, which makes restoration efforts more difficult.

Blacktail Mountain: Unsafe wind conditions at the top of Blacktail mountain means crews cannot currently access these areas safely to make repairs.

Unfortunately, areas that crews cannot easily access in this weather, along with small, isolated outages located at the end of the lines, should expect longer restoration times.

For Northern Lights customers in Lincoln and Sanders counties and northern Idaho, nearly 8,500 customers were without power as of noon Thursday. That was down from the reported 13,000 without power at 7:30 a.m.

In a statement on its website, Northern Lights said its crews had working across its service territory through the night to repair extensive and widespread damage from the severe windstorm. Nearly 13,000 Northern Light members remain without power.

Dangerous road conditions in many areas are slowing travel and impacting response times. Now with the help of daylight, crews are patrolling lines, more fully evaluating damage and continuing to complete repairs when feasible and safe to do so.

“Contracted crews from Mountain Power have joined Northern Lights crews on efforts to replace a broken transmission pole near Priest Lake,” an official said. “Replacing this transmission pole will need to be completed before power can begin to be restored to more than 3,000 members without power in the areas north of Priest River and surrounding Priest Lake.”

The Bonneville Power Administration is working to complete repairs to the northern transmission circuit serving more than 4,000 Northern Lights members in Boundary County, Idaho and Lincoln County, Montana.

“At this time, we do not have estimated restoration times,” officials said. “Please know that all available Northern Lights crews are actively working to assess damage and make repairs. Contracted crews have join Northern Lights efforts to restore power, with additional crews from Power City arriving soon.”

    Wind storm damaged tree limbs lay on a home on U.S. 2 Thursday, March 12, 2026, south of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
  

    A wind storm damaged trees lays on a small building on Farm to Market Road Thursday, March 12, 2026, south of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
  

    Power poles were heavily damaged by a wind storm Thursday, March 12, 2026, south of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
  

    A tree lays on a roof at a residence on Kootenai River Road outside of Libby Thursday, March 13, 2026, following a severe wind storm. (Photo courtesy Donna Nicely)
  

    Wind storm damaged trees took down power and communication lines on U.S. 2 Thursday, March 12, 2026, south of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
  

    A tree lays on a roof at a residence on Kootenai River Road outside of Libby Thursday, March 13, 2026, following a severe wind storm. (Photo courtesy Donna Nicely)
  

    Wind storm damaged trees lined Hammer Cutoff Road Thursday, March 12, 2026, south of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)

  

    A tree lays on a roof at a residence on Kootenai River Road outside of Libby Thursday, March 13, 2026, following a severe wind storm. (Photo courtesy Donna Nicely)
  

    A wind storm damaged tree lays behind Libby Elementary School Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
  

    Debris from a strong wind storm was strewn off the side of Farm to Market Road Thursday, March 12, 2026, south of Libby. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)