Wicked winds rip through county

High winds through the last week in Phillips County toppled trees, trailers and on Saturday night blew a number of intermodal containers from the train tracks near Bowdoin.

Ross Lane, Burlington Northern Sante Fe Director of Public Affairs, told the PCN on Monday morning that approximately 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, the train was heading eastbound carrying mostly empty containers. He said because of the high winds in the area – estimates anywhere from 75 to 100 mph – the conductor stopped the train in a siding as a derailment precaution. Shortly after, wind blew over "a significant number of those containers."

Lane said there were no injuries and the train was not carrying any hazardous materials. Lane added that it is not common for trains to derail because of wind events as BNSF employs a rigorous safety program including advanced weather forecasting and operational changes to include stopping a train when there is strong winds in the forecast. He said the mainline was cleared and reopened by 2 p.m. Sunday.

"We expect to have all cars re-railed in the coming days," he said via email. "We do not yet have a timeline for the completion of the cleanup of the empty containers, but that work is already in progress."

On Saturday afternoon – and well into the evening – members of the firm of RJ Corman Derailment Services, LLC were on the scene cleaning up the aftermath – as were BNSF employees – and at least 160 of the trailers laid near the train tracks as of Saturday afternoon.

Another victim of the high winds on Saturday evening was Alberta, Canada resident Justin Mack who, after a fishing trip with a buddy at Fort Peck, camped for the night at Malta's Trafton Park. Mack pitched his tent about 20-yards away from the Trafton Trail near the Milk River and when the windstorm started, he said he heard a loud "crack" followed by a crash and the sound of glass breaking. About 10-feet from where he had set up his tent, he parked his red pickup. A large tree near the trail toppled and landed directly on the cab of the truck, smashing the windshield and sunroof and leaving a dent on the top of the cab.

"It could have been worse," Mack said Sunday morning. "I didn't have any luck fishing either. I will be here for a while cleaning up glass and hopefully get the truck fixed soon so I can drive home."

Up to the Saturday night storm, areas in Phillips County accumulated an estimated one-to-two inches of rain in the last week. Last Tuesday evening, parts of a tree fell onto Central Ave. and in front of Jerry's Barber Pole in Malta following another short storm. That storm also knocked over a pine tree at the Malta Cemetery and bent at least a few power lines poles in the area.