Cambridge, Nebraska--How can something that looks so pretty as the sun shines across it, cause so many problems. By now everyone has seen pictures of the ice storm that went through central Nebraska the last weekend of December. The ice made great pictures, but caused enormous problems for the people who lived in the path of the storm. Unfortunately, the effects of this storm will be felt by many people of some time to come.
Twin Valleys Public Power District has extensive damage to the eastern portion of their district, from Stamford and Oxford east, with the worst devastation in southern Phelps and northern Harlan counties. It will probably be late next week before all the power is restored to the homes in the areas that were affected the most by the storm, provided there aren’t additional weather related issues.
Three contractor crews, a total of 46 men, are now working for Twin Valleys Public Power District rebuilding the power lines that were damaged. This will probably take several weeks to complete all the repairs. A complete assessment of all the damage hasn’t been completed yet, but it appears that it will take from 1000 to 2000 new poles to replace all that were damaged and broken.
There have been a total of 36 other men helping the Twin Valleys Public Power District crew of 14 in getting power restored to its customers. The extra men have come from Southwest Public Power District in Palisade, McCook Public Power District in McCook, Butler Public Power District in David City, Midwest Electric Cooperative in Grant, Lincoln Electric System in Lincoln, Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District in Cambridge and the electric crews from the cities of Cambridge and Arapahoe. There will be additional crews coming to help Twin Valleys Public Power District get power restored and rebuild power lines this week as crews are released from other areas in the state where power has been restored.
The crews that have been working to restore power had terrible working conditions for a few days after the storm. The rural roads were a sheet of ice, making it difficult to keep vehicles on the road. With ice up to 2 inches thick on the grass, weeds, etc., it was difficult for the workers to even walk. It was a very slow process in the beginning. Crews have working 7 days a week since the ice storm began and will continue working long hours every day until all homes have power.
Temporary repairs are being done to get customers power back on until permanent repairs can be completed. These temporary repairs may have lines that are lower than normal and there may still be existing lines that are low or on the ground. Stay away from these lines, they may have power!! Your safety is important to Twin Valleys Public Power District so please use extreme caution around any power lines.
Twin Valleys Public Power District wants to say “Thank You” to all of their customers for the patience and cooperation received during and after this storm. It has been a very difficult time for all that were affected.
