“It was all hands on deck,” said Ryan Henn, Midland Power Cooperative’s director of communications. “We had every available lineman in the field. They were working until late into the night and were back up again at dawn.”

Residents in Lehigh went more than 34 hours without power before Midland Power linemen were able to restore it in the early afternoon Thursday.

By late afternoon Thursday, just 20 residents were awaiting power from Midland Power Cooperative and two MidAmerican Energy customers.

“That first day the road conditions were so poor that it hampered our cause,” said Henn. “There were numerous areas that our linemen were trying to get to the lines to look for repairs and simply couldn’t because they couldn’t get in until the plows were through.”

-Submitted photo
A Midland Power Cooperative lineman works through Wednesday’s blizzard to restore power to residents throughout north central Iowa.

Six inches of snow and more than 60 mph winds made everything difficult throughout the blizzard. The Webster County Roads Department estimated more than 100 cars and semis were in ditches and impassable roadways Wednesday afternoon. According to Webster County Chief Deputy Derek Christie, 80 percent of those vehicles were cleaned up by Thursday evening.

“There’s still a handful of cars in the ditches throughout the county, but not as many as yesterday,” said Christie. “There’s still a few slick spots from the ice and snow, but we’ll see what happens with the next storm.”

Webster County is forecast to receive a second round of winter weather today with potentially five to eight inches of snow.

“We wish we had more of a break in between storms,” said Henn. “The ice and the wind are issues and those 60 to 70 mph winds wreak havoc. But we’ll take snow all day long, though we’ll be happy for spring. But I do have to say that our linemen really rose to the occasion and we feel confident that if needed we can do so again.”

-Submitted photo
Midland Power Cooperative linemen work through Wednesday’s blizzard to restore power to residents throughout north central Iowa.