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Rock County thaws out, power up after spring ice storm

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More than 500 lose power, some for six days when power poles snap under pressure of ice-coated galloping lines
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By
Lori Sorenson

Rock County and a good share of the region was crippled last week by a mammoth spring storm that brought rain, sleet, ice and snow — along with thunder and lightning.
Ice began accumulating on trees, power lines and property Wednesday afternoon, April 10, and strong winds gusting to 50 mph later that night contributed to deteriorating conditions.
School districts in southwest Minnesota canceled classes for the day Thursday, and some had early outs Wednesday and late starts Friday. Some districts that were open Friday issued messages to families that buses would pick up students on paved roads only.
Many businesses and institutions also closed for the day Thursday due to the storm. Some closed due to power outages caused by ice accumulation on power lines “galloping” in the strong winds.
In northwestern Rock County, more than 70 electrical poles either snapped or tipped over along a five-mile stretch of County Road 6 south of the Pipestone County line.
The roads were closed to traffic north and east of the County Roads 6 and 7 intersection for the downed lines and during pole repair.
“When one goes, it’s a domino effect,” said Sioux Valley Energy engineer Jim Kuiper.
The electric cooperative that serves connections in the tri-state area at one point had nearly 10,000 consumers in its Minnesota-South Dakota area without power — nearly 40 percent of its members.
Sioux Valley Energy has 6,000 square miles of service territory and of that area, more than 2,500 square miles sustained significant damage during the storm including 480 broken poles system wide.
During the storm’s duration roughly 500 Rock County locations were without electricity, including the cities of Jasper and Hardwick.
The Jasper fire hall and Hardwick Community Center served as “warming and recharge” centers for residents needing to recharge oxygen concentrators and cell phones and to simply warm up.
Hardwick City Clerk Tammy Johnson posted on the city’s Facebook page encouraging people to come together during the storm.
“Please feel free to come to town, bring games or a deck of cards, food or snacks and enjoy,” she wrote. “The Legion has a kitchen.”
Johnson also encouraged the community to check on neighbors.
“Please help one another,” she posted. “If you know of anyone who needs to move because they need power or heat, please let us know.”
Sioux Valley Energy staking engineer Jim Kuiper was surveying downed power lines on Rock County Road 6 Friday morning and commented on the task at hand.
“This is a big one,” he said about the size of the storm and widespread outages it caused.
He compared it to the April ice storm of 2013 which caused similar widespread outages, but he said this time repairs will be more difficult.
“The ground is softer and there’s a lot of water,” Kuiper said while parked on the road near a ditch with standing water in it from recent flooding.
“Be patient,” he said. “Crews are coming.”
Sioux Valley Energy spokesperson Carrie Vugteveen said more than a hundred linemen and other personnel were headed to the area Saturday morning.
“We appreciate our linemen because they’ve been working long hours,” she said.
By the weekend, most outages were restored, but in the area west of Hardwick 35 residences were still in the dark.
“Those folks will likely be out of power for several days because of the extent of the damage,” Vugteveen said Saturday afternoon.
The poles were replaced, but many will likely need to be straightened and lines tightened later in the spring as conditions improve.
Vugteveen said last week’s ice storm is in many ways worse than the April 2013 event in terms of reaching the areas that need repairs.
“What’s been challenging is we have roads under water and softened roads,” she said. “We have trucks going down those roads not realizing their condition and getting stuck. … This storm has caused a myriad of problems.”
By Tuesday morning nearly all members of their power restored. “We appreciate the support of our members,” Vugteveen said.
“They’ve been great to work with and many have reached out to help — some bringing food to the linemen. It’s been overwhelming to see the response.”

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