That kind of assessment, unfortunately, isn’t limited to Thurston County. Last week’s extended ice storm hit major segments of Northeast Nebraska with downed power line after downed power line.
To Perez’s knowledge, all towns in Thurston County had power restored by Saturday. There were still pockets without power in rural areas — regions that visiting power crews had trouble accessing.
"We made a lot of progress this weekend," he said Sunday. "I can't say enough about the crews who came in and about our people here. People have been really good about checking in on their neighbors. You don't really see the good in people until something like this."
Assistance from utility crews elsewhere in the state has been a big asset for many public power districts.
The Northeast Nebraska Public Power District, based in Wayne, saw its number of customers without power climb into the thousands at one point last week. But by Sunday, extensive progress had been made in restoring service, reducing the number of people without power to about 250.
Persons living in remote areas of the district’s service area were the remaining challenges.
"Our guys are driving a hundred miles to put 20 people back in service," said Mark Shults, general manager of the power district. “We set out so optimistically on Sunday morning when the sun was out. But by 4 p.m., it was a whiteout and we had to stop.”
Despite Monday morning’s strong winds, crews set out again to get to the downed lines, he said. “It will be very slow going,” Shults said.
The good news is that the repairs made earlier last week have held and no new power outages have been reported in the district, he said.
South Dakota Rural Electric Association general manager Ed Anderson said some 7,600 customers remained without power statewide late Sunday afternoon. The Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives' Web site reported more than 9,000 customers were without power Sunday.
"The sooner the wind dies down, the better off we'll be," Anderson said.
The National Weather Service forecast up to 40 mph gusts and overnight wind chills of 20 below in some areas through Tuesday.
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Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
