Power loss might be state's worst ever

[Aquawind]

65 towns still lack electricity, governor says

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TERRY WOSTER
twoster@midco.net

Article Published: 12/2/05, 2:55 am

Monday's ice storm and 24 hours of whiteout conditions across much of eastern South Dakota might have resulted in the worst power damage in the state's history, Gov. Mike Rounds said Thursday.

The governor also announced the start of a state-local cooperative effort, Operation Door to Door, aimed at going through some of the 65 communities still without power and urging residents to consider moving to an established shelter until lights and heat are back.

"We don't know of another time, we don't have a record of another time available to us, where there's been over 10,000 miles of line impacted, the number of structures damaged or impacted as there's been so far," Rounds said Thursday.

We've had some limited ice storms. But in this case, we had an ice storm that impacted South Dakota from the north border to the south border, and we had whiteout conditions for a period of 24 hours after that in virtually the entire area as well. ... This was one of those things that meshed together to make for a perfect storm."

State officials now say 53,000 power customers were out of service at one time during or after the ice storm that preceded a blizzard across most of eastern South Dakota on Monday.

About 21,000 customers remained without power as of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Heather Forney, acting Public Utilities Commission executive director.

"This will still not all be completed in the next 12 hours, the next 24 hours or probably not within the next several days," Rounds said.

South Dakota's congressional delegation will work with the state to obtain a disaster declaration.

"They have offered their full support in our effort to obtain a FEMA declaration," Rounds said. "We certainly appreciate the real team effort that they are a part of here."

The delegation will write letters in support of the state's request.


Rounds said Thursday that:

About 150 communities were at one time without power. Electricity has been restored to all but 53.


As of 9 p.m. Wednesday, 68 shelters were operational, and 22 of them were serving South Dakotans who had no power. A total of 1,183 people were in those shelters. The greatest number of people in one shelter, 515, were being cared for in the Baptist Church in Sisseton, the governor said.


The state asked schools for information on how many are still unable to have classes. The answers aren't back yet.


Most rural water systems are back in operation.

Operation Door to Door is focused on communities still without power. The target area is loosely in an area bounded by Aberdeen, Watertown and Mitchell, said Kevin Forsch, a senior adviser to the governor.

Teams visited more than 500 homes Thursday, Health Secretary Doneen Hollingsworth said. Twelve counties took part in the operation's first day.

"What we've found is that neighbors are really doing a good job of helping their neighbors," she said.

Health, Social Services and Highway Patrol personnel, along with National Guard members, are involved, Rounds said.

The teams identify people at risk because of no power, offer information on protecting their homes from freezing water pipes and other cold-weather problems, and provide transportation to shelters.

Rounds said many residents, especially older people, don't want to leave their homes, in spite of cold and lack of power. He quoted one local official as telling him, "I just can't get them to go to a shelter."

The door-to-door teams will try to encourage shelter use.

South Dakotans aren't used to asking for help, the governor said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that only 6,200 South Dakotans were without power Wednesday.

FEMA's national situation update, a daily bulletin for emergency managers around the country, said: "FEMA Region VIII reports that 6,200 customers were without power at 2:30 p.m. EST Wednesday; down from earlier estimates of 50,000."

But Joe Castel, a FEMA public affairs employee in the agency's Denver office, later called the figure a typo. The report should have said 26,000 are without power, not 6,200, Castel said.

"We don't want people to think there were that few people without power," he said.

Argus Leader reporter Nestor Ramos contributed to this report. Reach reporter Terry Woster at 605-224-2760.

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 20337/1001

That's a pretty impressive statement for those folks.. I have been through alot of nasty blizzards..this was the worse.. wow.. FEMA in Sodak is rare..

Paul

[cgstorm5]

Well this is what you get when there is poor infrastructure that's some 50 yrs old. So pathetic this state doesn't do a dang thing for its people. Oh sure it was the ice storm's fault but really our stupid state government who doesn't care about rural SD. It's no surprise for me if FEMA or Bush wouldn't care for our disaster declaration but pounce on any interupting event in the Northeast. Okay, go head and leave some 20,000 w/o power as temps fall to -10s next week and see what happens. This is 65 small communities most isolated from main routes and communication. Plain and simple SD ranks one of the poorest states never able to overcome a disaster by ourselves.

This storm reminds me of the monster blizzard back in April 1997(?) when the farming communties were hit the worst with thousands of cattle lost. When a tornado devastated Oglala, western SD they immediately rebuilt new homes but for winter storms you are on your own pal.