An April 1 storm dumped almost a foot of heavy, wet snow on community of York, several miles northeast of Helena. A day later, firefighters, NorthWestern Energy crews, and residents were still busy picking up the pieces.
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“We weren't expecting this much. It kept coming, knocking all the trees down and the bushes, breaking everything. We didn't expect this much, we maybe expected six inches or eight inches,” said York resident Joe Zatorowski.
Neighbor Mark Reardon told MTN this is one of the biggest spring snowstorms he can remember that has hit the York area in decades.
“We had a storm like this in '82. I kind of remember that because I was floating down the Colorado River, and my brother had come up to check on my place, and this is kind of what we had then. That’s about the last time I remember this much snow here this time of year,” noted Reardon.
As residents worked to clear snow on their properties, Northwestern Energy crews and the York Volunteer Fire Department tackled damaged power lines and downed trees.
Northwestern Energy told MTN that hundreds of customers lost power in the storm, with outages reported in the North Valley, Canyon Ferry, and York.
The company said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that it had restored power to the York area. However, crews remained in the area to repair damage from trees and branches that continued to fall due to the heavy snow.
