Missoula avalanche levels residential home

MISSOULA – Three people have been found alive after an avalanche roared into the western Montana city of Missoula and destroyed a house.

Police say an elderly husband and wife and an 8-year-old boy were rescued after the avalanche Friday.

No one else was reported missing.

All three were taken to a hospital. Their conditions weren’t immediately known but police say the man was talking to rescuers.

The elderly couple lived in the house that was destroyed. Police weren’t sure if the boy lived there or elsewhere.

The avalanche slid down Mount Jumbo into the northeast Missoula neighborhood at about 4 p.m.

Neighbors and the first responders to reach the scene dug frantically through the snow and debris, the Missoulian reported.

Cheryl McMillan, who lives near the house that was destroyed, told the Missoulian she heard a roar, but didn’t know what it was at first.

“Then, when we looked again, we saw that their whole house was kind of no longer there, at least the top floor,” she said.

Authorities say avalanche conditions around the city remain dangerous.

Associated Press