A transmission pole lies splintered on the ground after the 2006-2007 ice storms swept through Dawson PPD’s territory. It was part of a 14 mile stretch north of Kearney that had to be rebuilt.
A decade later, Dawson PPD employees still remember the devastation of the 2006-2007 ice storms as if it happened yesterday.
The first storm rolls in
It was Wednesday, December 20, 2006. Weather forecasters predicted an ice storm for Central Nebraska. While a few people were dreaming of a white Christmas, Dawson PPD was bracing for major outages.
Ice built up on the lines until it was over an inch in diameter. Several power lines broke. Equipment was torn away from the poles and meters on homes. In some areas, the poles snapped like toothpicks under the weight of the ice. Trees, heavily coated in ice, leaned and fell into power lines.
“When the first storm rolled in, I could hear branches snapping and falling, and I knew we were in trouble. It was so hard to get around; we were sliding up and down hills in our trucks and into the ditch. The ice was so thick on the roads that you could see the gravel through about an inch and a half of ice, but you’d slip and fall as soon as you stepped out of the truck. I remember going to the store and buying ice cleats for my boots just so I could stand.” – Ed Clements, Lead Lineman
At the storm’s worst, about 4,000 customers were without power. Some residential customers were out for a week. The damage was spread throughout Dawson PPD’s service territory.
Dawson PPD’s line crews were assisted by crews from Watt’s Electric of Lincoln, Perennial Public Power District in York, Polk County Rural Public Power District in Stromsburg and South Central Public Power District in Nelson. Nebraska Public Power District sent linemen from Humbolt, Creighton, Norfolk, O’Neill, South Sioux City, Oakland, Chadron and York. Over 90 lineworkers worked to restore power after the first ice storm.
A piece of ice wrapped around a power line is compared to a cell phone.
I’ll be home for Christmas…if only in my dreams
“I remember calling my wife and saying ‘I think we will make it for Christmas’ because we were close to being done repairing the damage from the first storm. Then it started raining and freezing. Everything we put up came right back down. The neutral phase (the bottom wire) would have ice off of it first since it was closest to the heat of the earth, but once the ice melted off, it would bounce up and hit the wires above and cause power outages. I broke so many slip sticks (a fiberglass stick with a hook at the end) trying to knock the ice off the lines.” – Jeremy Kaiser, Manager of Operations
“I’ll never forget taking those customer calls. Days before Christmas, I had to tell people that they would not have power by the holiday – and they were crushed because they couldn’t have Christmas at their house. That was hard. It was hard for all of us. A lot of employees worked on Christmas Day. The stress of wanting to get everyone back on was overwhelming. These linemen were out and wanting to do more, and more, and more, but they also knew that if they didn’t rest they risked not only their own lives, but everyone.” – Marsha Banzhaf, Manager of Customer Service
“To lift everyone’s spirits, one foreman from a NPPD mutual aid crew cut the top off of a cedar tree and decorated it like a Christmas tree. He attached it to the front of his truck. Seeing it helped you get through the hard times.” – Cheri Bliven, Operations Coordinator
“After working through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I couldn’t listen to Christmas music or eat Christmas cookies for three years. That’s all the music that played on the radio during the holiday; and that next year when my wife wanted to play Christmas music I asked her to turn it off because I got so tired of it. And the cookies – the customers were so nice to bring us cookies to show their appreciation and there was so much (food). We’d stop to work somewhere and walk away with big plates of Christmas cookies.” – Joe Linn, Warehouse Supervisor
Employees inspect storm damage before creating a plan for restoration.
The second storm packs a punch
On Saturday, December 30, 2006, another storm rolled across the area dwarfing the first ice storm and devastating lines for several utilities. The ice buildup was more than four times greater than in the first storm – imagine a wire the size of a pencil encircled by ice the size of a softball.
“Dawson PPD worked hard to mobilize early. Our former general manager, Bob Heinz, was calling for mutual aid in South Dakota before we had completed the assessment of the damage from the second storm. We knew that our neighboring districts would be tied up repairing damage in their own service territories. The now retired Manager of Purchasing, Fleet and Facilities, Scott Fagot, did a good job securing contractors and ordering extra materials when the weatherman forecasted the second storm.” – Gwen Kautz, General Manager
NPPD lost major transmission lines throughout central Nebraska, including those bringing power to the City of Kearney and to Dawson PPD’s substations. The District lost major transmission and distribution lines totaling over 3,400 poles.
“I can remember the destruction of the storms. Everywhere you went, the power lines were down. There was no way to reroute power. It took us about a week and a half to rebuild the power line to the main substation serving our customers west of Kearney. The mutual aid crews were pretty fast to rebuild transmission lines; which worked for us so we could concentrate on getting the customers back on.” – Garland Snow, Chief Area Serviceman
At the peak of the outage, approximately 6,000 customers were without power. It took two weeks to restore power to everyone. The estimated damage costs were near $10.5 million.
A lineworker breaks ice off power lines using a slip stick in a field of glass.
Keeping everyone in the loop
“My job was to help communicate to the customers and employees. I helped relay information to the media through a system called ‘Storm Steps.’ We had radio announcements on KRVN several times each day to keep customers posted on outage restoration. I took pictures and occasionally delivered lunches. When it gets that bad, you just do what you need to do.” – Marsha Banzhaf, Manager of Customer Service
Operations Coordinator Cheri Bliven helped the operations manager manage outage phone calls and lineworkers. At the peak of the storm, there were more than 275 workers consisting of Dawson PPD employees, mutual aid and contractors working on power restoration. Bliven worked with then Manager of Customer Service Gwen Kautz to develop forms to track lineworker location within the District, outage restoration progress and expenses.
“We learned the hard way that the wrong click of a mouse can wipe out our entire outage reporting system on the computer. That was a mistake on my part, and I’m so glad that Cheri Bliven handled it so well. She had the reports printed off and was able to reenter customer outages by hand. I called the media and had them ask customers to call back in to report their power outage. I also had a map of the district printed and put up on display. When power lines were reenergized, Cheri would highlight the lines in pink highlighter. It was comforting seeing that pink grow across the map.” – Gwen Kautz, General Manager
Dawson PPD crews worked 12 to 16 hour days for 26 consecutive days – including through the holidays – to restore power to customers. After the second storm, about 200 poles were set each day. More than 300 lineworkers worked together to restore power.
Time drags on
Line crews worked 12 to 16 hour days for 26 days straight. Restoration efforts took about five weeks between the two storms. After the second storm, about 200 poles were set each day as crews raced to safely restore power.
“It was a very stressful time for both the customers and the employees. They wanted power, and we were trying our best to build as quickly and safely as possible. We would call lineworkers in at the end of the day, and they would say ‘we gotta get one more on…’ But we couldn’t let them. It was dark out and it wasn’t safe to work more than 16 hours in a day.” – Cheri Bliven, Operations Coordinator
“It just seemed like it was nonstop and the days ran together. I was out doing whatever needed to be done. I’d repair vehicles and then help deliver lunches. We ate so many Subway sandwiches; but you were thankful to have something because we didn’t have time to stop and eat. I remember the hydraulics on the bucket trucks freezing. When I was repairing it, my feet were so cold standing in the snow. I had just started working for Dawson PPD in November, and I remember looking at Lauren Daberkow (now retired Dawson PPD mechanic) and saying ‘I’m not sure if this job is for me. I don’t think I can do this every winter.’” – Jeff Beck, Fleet and Hydraulic Mechanic
Volunteers wanted
As restoration efforts continued, requests were sent out for volunteers to build crossarms. Consumer Accounting Representative Charla Thuernagle’s husband, Steve, responded along with Consumer Accounting Representative Marti Fischer’s husband, Mickey, and Cheri Bliven’s late husband, Jess.
“The (now retired) Dawson PPD warehouse supervisor, Gary Ballheim, set Steve up in the two south bays of the old truck barn and taught him how to build crossarms so the crews wouldn’t have to build them at the job site. Just when he thought he was getting ahead by having a stockpile built up, the crews would come in and deplete his supply – back to square one. He worked eight to nine hour days for about two weeks building a couple of different types of crossarms.” – Charla Thuernagle, Consumer Accounting Representative
To distribute supplies quickly to the affected areas, Dawson PPD set up a mobile warehouse at the Buffalo County Highway Department. It was provided by Arkansas Electric Cooperatives.
“I helped out at the Kearney office during those storms. That included helping organize material shipments and running them to the crews if needed. I used the skid steer forklift so much that afterwards I was required to take forklift training. Lauren Daberkow (now retired Dawson PPD mechanic) taught me how to build cut outs during the slow times. The first week of the second storm, I worked with Dawson PPD lineworker Garland Snow’s wife, Lorna, and another employee to organize lunches and their delivery. I just tried to fill the gaps; answering phones, meeting with customers and taking photos. One customer had such a great attitude about the whole thing. She had a generator connected to her home and she made hot meals for the Kearney linemen. She even felt guilty asking when her power would come back on.” – Dave Behle, Economic Development Specialist
Approximately 320 lunches were packed daily by Dawson PPD employees and family members.
“Some of the girls from the office were packing more than 300 meals per day. We would have an assembly line where we would line up sacks five rows deep on tables and start dropping stuff in. The sacks had a different entrée each day like chicken, Runzas, pizza and Subway sandwiches. But it was always peanut butter or cheese crackers, soda or Gatorade, chips and cookies. We added foot and hand warmers when the weather got really cold. When the full bags left each day, we lined the empty bags up again. After a while, Marti Fischer and I decided we needed to do something different. We bought rubber snakes and spiders, and stickers that said “Great Job” and started adding them to the bags. It was a way to boost morale and it made packing the bags more fun.” – Rose Welch, Engineering Coordinator
Mutual aid speeds up power restoration
During the second storm, Dawson PPD’s line crews were assisted by 278 lineworkers from Norris Public Power District in Beatrice, Custer Public Power in Broken Bow, Watt’s Electric, Ward Electric in Colorado, Kiowa Powerline Builders in Missouri, Mid-Plains Power in Grand Island, East River Electric Cooperative from South Dakota, Panhandle Rural Electric from Alliance, LaCreek Electric Cooperative in South Dakota, Bon Homme Yankton Electric Cooperative in South Dakota, Clay Union Electric Cooperative in South Dakota, Southeastern Electric in South Dakota, Charles Mix Electric Cooperative in South Dakota, Perennial Public Power, Sioux Valley Electric Cooperative in South Dakota, South Sioux Energy in South Dakota, Wheat Belt Public Power in Sidney, Central Electric in South Dakota, Dakota Energy in South Dakota, Rosebud of South Dakota, West Central Electric of South Dakota, Niobrara Valley Electric in O’Neill and a mobile warehouse from Arkansas Electric Cooperatives.
“I remember that at our highest point I managed six mutual aid crews from South Dakota out of our Kearney office. We worked 26 days straight putting in 16 hours in a day. One day I was working ahead on Riverdale Road scouting out damage to report back to the crews to fix. I pulled into a driveway and a mom and daughter came out. They asked ‘when do you think we’ll have power?’ And I said ‘I hope tomorrow.’ Then they started crying. It had been a couple weeks since they had power.” – Fred Kopf, Special Equipment Technician
Miles of transmission poles in Buffalo County snapped under the weight of the ice, leaving many without power.
Document everything
“Trying to keep up with all of the paperwork was overwhelming. I was making sure Dawson PPD was paying its bills – like contractors and their food and lodging – so we could keep it coming. There is so much to document when requesting support from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and when we’ve got hundreds of people trying their best to restore power, it’s hard to make sure that everything is properly documented. The accounting department spent the next year organizing paperwork.” – Nancy Davenport, Accountant
After the storms had passed and the power was restored, Dawson PPD applied for a full refund from FEMA. Approximately 75 percent of the cost in damages was reimbursed; the highest amount possible.
Let’s NOT do that again
The destruction from the 2006-2007 ice storms is an event that no employee wishes to see repeated. However, if it does, the lineworkers have a motto that General Manager Gwen Kautz says she will keep in mind: “If it falls down, we will put it back up.”
January 2017