Rural OPPD customers could wait until Wednesday for power, utility says
For many in the small Dodge County town of Nickerson, the lights came on just before noon Sunday. But the volunteer fire department knows they’ll still be needed, even for those with power back on.”All the food got spoiled, so all their food’s gone,” said Natalie Goss of the Nickerson Volunteer Fire Department. “We’re going to be here cooking day and night.”The station was packed on Saturday night and Sunday morning. As of 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening, nearly 4,000 OPPD customers were without power to the north and west of Douglas and Sarpy Counties.OPPD says some of them will likely be waiting until Wednesday for power. Even with all the need, the fire department says they community has been so helpful with donations they have more food than they know what to do with. “We can’t really afford a hotel again, so I mean, we kind of got to stick it through tonight,” Justin Abney said while taking advantage of the free meal in Nickerson.Abney said OPPD gave them an estimate that their power will be restored on Monday. Those estimates can be wrong.”There’s still discovery that has to happen as we go to each call,” Shannon Ankeny of OPPD told KETV. “Once we get there, we have to really evaluate what needs to happen to fix that.” In Fremont, the city says most of the residential power is restored, but there’s more work to be done. OPPD handles areas outside Fremont. While a little work can restore power to many in urban areas, the opposite is true in rural areas.”We’re seeing that the restoration is 7 or 8 miles long versus a block or two that you would see in the metro area,” Ankeny said.They say they’re sorry to those still without power.
For many in the small Dodge County town of Nickerson, the lights came on just before noon Sunday. But the volunteer fire department knows they’ll still be needed, even for those with power back on.
“All the food got spoiled, so all their food’s gone,” said Natalie Goss of the Nickerson Volunteer Fire Department. “We’re going to be here cooking day and night.”
The station was packed on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
As of 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening, nearly 4,000 OPPD customers were without power to the north and west of Douglas and Sarpy Counties.
OPPD says some of them will likely be waiting until Wednesday for power.
Even with all the need, the fire department says they community has been so helpful with donations they have more food than they know what to do with.
“We can’t really afford a hotel again, so I mean, we kind of got to stick it through tonight,” Justin Abney said while taking advantage of the free meal in Nickerson.
Abney said OPPD gave them an estimate that their power will be restored on Monday. Those estimates can be wrong.
“There’s still discovery that has to happen as we go to each call,” Shannon Ankeny of OPPD told KETV. “Once we get there, we have to really evaluate what needs to happen to fix that.”
In Fremont, the city says most of the residential power is restored, but there’s more work to be done.
OPPD handles areas outside Fremont.
While a little work can restore power to many in urban areas, the opposite is true in rural areas.
“We’re seeing that the restoration is 7 or 8 miles long versus a block or two that you would see in the metro area,” Ankeny said.
They say they’re sorry to those still without power.