Weekend storm causes widespread damage, outages

“Seven of our co-op members north of Somerset experienced power outages because of a tree that fell on a power line,” said Joan O’Fallon, director of communications for Polk-Burnett Electric.

That same day, Xcel Energy reported approximately 280,000 customers were impacted and power had been restored to 123,000 customers. By afternoon, about 37,000 remained without power, with most outages happening in the Minneapolis metro area. Under 2,000 remain without power in the Hudson/Amery area of western Wisconsin. 

More than a thousand employees and contractors were in the field working to restore power, coming from ten different states.

In a Facebook update to customers Xcel said, “Crews have made significant progress restoring power after Friday night’s severe storms. Nearly 1,200 employees and contractors were working to get the lights back on in the region.”

A majority of outages were to be restored Saturday. However, due to the extensive damage to power lines and poles, work to restore all customers’ power continued into Sunday and Monday.

According to Xcel, when it comes to restoring power, top priority is given to situations that threaten public safety, such as live downed wires. Repair priority is based on what will restore power to the largest number of customers most quickly, such as transmission lines or feeder lines that serve large amounts of customers.

Polk County, Wisconsin set a snowfall record 32 years ago. On Nov 1, 1991, the county received 22 inches of snow over 24 hours, making the total snowfall that year 81.3 inches. 

According to WQOW Chief Meteorlogist  Matthew Schaefer, this year makes the top five list for the snowiest winters on record for Amery with a total of 93.2 inches. 

This week’s weather brings a wintry mix of rain, snow and heavy winds but things turn around in time for Easter.