Miles City residents deal with damage after severe storm

MILES CITY — A strong storm blasted through Miles City on Saturday evening, downing trees, damaging property, and causing a widespread power outage.

Many residents experienced the severity of the almost 80 miles per hour winds. One couple, Jackie and Blane Zimmerman, were driving home when the storm suddenly hit, and were caught in the middle, pushing them into a street.

"As we were coming up North Montana Street, (Blane) looked off to the driver's side left hand and said that it looks like there's going to be a microburst, a tornado," said Zimmerman. "He told me to hold on, and next thing I know, we were over the tracks and then we felt the rear end of the pickup coming up and slammed into a pole, and throughout the whole little five minutes that it lasted, we could feel the pickup still trying to tip. Then within seconds, it was over."

Isabel Spartz/MTN News

The Zimmermans described seeing what appeared to be two tornado-like clouds of wind meeting together. While there has been no official confirmation that a tornado did form, the winds still created a terrifying experience for two.

“I was trying to figure out what where I could, there was nowhere to go,” said Zimmerman.

Many others across town were also worried about the weather conditions. Long-time resident Mary Catherine Dunphy was on the phone with a friend when she started to feel something unusual.

“All of a sudden, the building I have lived in for 14 years started to shake in a way I've never felt it shake before. It was really scary and I said to her, 'Oh, I think we're having a tornado maybe here in Miles City,' said Dunphy. "I don't think we've had a storm like this since 1995 or 96 when another similar storm came through Miles City."

Dunphy is worried that storms could start to get worse for the community and lead to even larger issues.

"It's devastating for communities in terms of property damage and the cleanup that has to happen afterward, the government services, the city parks, and the people that will be busy with it for a long time. It's very hard on people and traumatic."

Miles City resident

Briana and Nathan Mardikian were inside watching a movie when the storm took a turn for the worst.

“I looked out the window. I was like, 'Man, it is getting windy out,' and then I heard a crack. First tree went down in our front yard. Like, oh my gosh, that's insane,” said Mardikian.

The Mardikian’s car had several trees fall on top, caving in the back half. Neighbors were quick to assist them clean up the damage. Surprisingly, the car is still able to drive, which made the couple see the bright side of a bad situation.

"I can still do a Walmart run if we need anything, so. I mean, that's all you really need. We're just going to cut it off and it's going to be a new El Camino," joked the Mardikians.

Isabel Spartz/MTN News

While the storm has passed and many have begun to receive power again, it still left many with questions on what exactly Miles City experienced that night.

"Clearly it's severe enough that both of our massive trees went down in our front yard," said Mardikian. "I've seen some pictures of the sky and then I mean as beautiful as it is, it wreaked havoc on us. After our trees went down that first 15, 20 minutes of the storm, then it calmed down, skies cleared up and then there was sunshine again, of course.”

For now, residents are glad no one was injured.

“At the end of the day, it's just a car. Everybody's safe, healthy, and happy," said Mardikian. "Just thank God it wasn't our house or the neighbor's house. Nothing major was damaged aside from my car, which is also replaceable."

“I'm just glad everybody's okay and just helping each other. I'll get this eventually get this fixed. We have another vehicle,” said the Zimmermans.