In the wake of the storm that struck on April 6th, Wheat Belt Public Power District found ourselves facing one of our greatest challenges yet. With over 1100 poles broken or damaged and power disrupted to more than 1500 accounts, the task of restoration seemed daunting.
 
Thanks to the efforts of our amazing crews, support staff and the assistance from mutual aid crews from Dawson Public Power (Lexington, NE), LaCreek Electric (Martin, SD), Loup Valleys Rural Public Power (Ord, NE), McCook Public Power (McCook, NE), Midwest Electric (Grant, NE), Northwest Public Power (Hay Springs, NE), PREMA (Alliance, NE), Roosevelt Public Power (Scottsbluff, NE) and Southern Public Power (Grand Island, NE), we had all residential services restored by April 17th.  These crews fought mud, rain, wind, and long hours throughout this restoration process, but never gave up.

After all the residential accounts were back on, our focus turned to irrigation accounts.  At this point we still had just over 100 irrigation accounts without power.  Our mutual aid crews went home, and contracting crews were brought in to help with the line rebuild.  By May 10th, we had all these irrigation accounts restored.  There were still around 35 accounts left to get back on that consisted of stock wells, fencing services, and abandoned farmsteads.  Keep in mind that some of these accounts required one to two miles of line rebuild for just one service.  The goal is to have every account back up and going by the end of May.

Through this process, we have learned a lot about storm restoration, NEMA (Nebraska Emergency Management Agency) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).  It seems like there is more and more to learn each day.  

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of our customers, businesses, and community members for their unwavering support throughout this challenging period. Your patience, understanding, and assistance have been instrumental in our journey towards restoration.

As we reflect on the events of the few months, we are reminded of the strength and resilience that define the Wheat Belt community. Together, we have weathered the storm, emerging stronger and more united than ever before.
 

~Kelli Chaon, Customer Engagement Manager