Mitchell Works to Restore Power
Local News
by
Krystle Kacner
last edited on
Friday, January 22, 2010
East river definitely got the brunt of this storm and that's where most of the power outages are.
Officials say more than 7,700 South Dakotans are without power and 2,800 poles are down. And those numbers are changing by the minute. A downed power line closed I-90 for a short time on Friday near Kimball.
Meanwhile, crews continue to work in the Mitchell area restoring power. They've been there since Thursday. While power is now restored to much of Mitchell, crews still have a long ways to go
The Director of Member Services Ken Schlimgen says, "We expect to be here until everybody's on and everybody stays on. Whether it's weekend or weekday we will continue to work."
Northwest Energy continues to head west restoring power.
Larry Vreugdenhil says, “I had seen them fixing the lines out here a few miles away, so I went and turned the electricity back on to see if it had been fixed, and it was".
For Donna and Larry Vreugdenhil, this generator is what got them through the last 24 hours.
Donna says, "We just have a very small generator, so different electric things have to take their turn, so you can’t have everything all plugged in at once. So a refrigerator, you unplug that. You plug in a freezer, unplug that."
Even though the power's back for now, right outside their window are some pretty low hanging wires and they say looking at that makes them nervous.
Larry Vreugdenhil says, "When it starts coming off, that’s when the lines hit each other and that shorts it out, and we lose it then."
And as the ice continuing to build, so does the work.
Schlimgen says, "The biggest challenge is we're calling to get more help. But this ice challenge is such an issue that there really is no more help to be brought in close by."
They're hopeful the hired contractors, extra equipment, and overtime will pay off; a sentiment families like the Vreugdenhil's agree with.