RAPID CITY, S.D. Lineworkers from the Mount Rushmore State are being enlisted to help their southern neighbors restore power following a winter storm.
A total of 20 lineworkers from five South Dakota cooperatives headed south Thursday to the Omaha and Lincoln areas to assist with power restoration at Burt County Public Power District (PPD) at Tekamah, Neb., and Butler PPD at David City, Neb. Crews of linemen from Sioux Valley Energy, which sent eight to Nebraska, will be in the Burt County PPD.
According to KETV in Omaha, 106,000 customers were without power at the peak of the blizzard in the Omaha area, caused by gusting winds that toppled power poles. The storm also closed interstates in Nebraska and Interstate 29 south of Sioux City, Iowa.
Assistance is being coordinated by the South Dakota Rural Electric Association in Pierre and the Nebraska Rural Electric Association in Lincoln.
It’s not the first time in recent months that linemen from South Dakota have been enlisted to help other regions of the country following weather-related disasters. In October, 20 lineworkers from five South Dakota cooperatives helped restore South Carolina’s power after Hurricane Helene.
During the same storm, Xcel Energy sent 100 workers from five states to assist in Georgia.
