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MISSOULA- The winds may be settling down in Western Montana, but now some Missoula residents are busy cleaning up after Saturday night's gusty winds damaged their property.

Heavy winds blew through Missoula this weekend, some of them reaching more than 40 mph and now as they begin to die down, some residents are left to pick up the pieces.

One family returned home Sunday morning from a camping trip to find a yard that they say was almost unrecognizable.

"It was an awful shock to show up and see the damage. I think it must have been a domino effect. The row of trees is about 80 years old and the bug spruce was probably about 100 years old," Tony Croonenberghs explained.

The winds began developing Friday evening and continued well into Saturday night. The highest gust in Missoula happened just before 4 p.m., clocking in at 44 mph and winds continued between 20 mph and 40 mph most of the day.

Local police and fire crews had to block off major streets Saturday night, because of downed power lines. Fire departments also responded to a small grass fire in Miller Creek early Sunday morning that they believe was sparked by a downed power line.

Other residents reported their trees falling over in their yards, as well as sheds and garages losing roofing from the wind gusts.

"The big tree has poked three branches through the roof of the garage. The garage structure seems to be fairly good, but the top of the tree broke the window out of the car parked on the other side of the garage," Croonenberghs said.

NorthWestern Energy reports there were between 1,000 and 1,500 power outages in Missoula and surrounding areas over a three-day period, but no wind-related injuries have been reported.

The Croonenberghs say despite facing thousands of dollars in damage, they still have several things to be thankful for. "Nobody is hurt. The house is in tact, and the shrubbery can be replaced," Tony commented.

The winds were felt all across Western Montana with the Flathead, Mission, and Bitterrot valleys all recording wind gusts of upwards of 40 mph.

The National Weather Service says the gusts are continuing to die down now, and are expected to be gone by Monday afternoon.

Contact Laura Wilson