Governor Declares State Of Emergency After Winter Storm

On Friday, March 21, Governor Jim Pillen declared a state of emergency for more than 20 counties impacted by last week’s winter storm. The combination of rain, sleet, hail, heavy snow, and high winds resulted in closures across multiple roadways, including Interstate 80. Conditions also did considerable damage to trees and power lines, resulting in a loss of electricity across multiple service areas. The heaviest damage occurred along the eastern part of the state.Counties covered by the emergency declaration include Jefferson, Gage, Thayer, Saline, Burt, Butler, Cass, Clay, Colfax, Cuming, Dodge, Douglas, Fillmore, Lancaster, Platte, Polk, Nuckolls, Sarpy, Saunders, Seward, Thurston, Washington, Wayne and York. Initial damage estimates currently exceed $21 million. It is possible that number will fluctuate with ongoing damage assessments. It is possible the list of counties will change as the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) continues to receive damage assessment data from local emergency management agencies. If so, an additional declaration may be issued by the governor.Thousands of southeast Nebraska homes were left without power when the storm first hit Wednesday, March 20. Blizzard conditions brought wet, heavy snow and high winds that brought down power lines, knocked down utility poles and closed roads. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the peak outage was reported Thursday afternoon with 119,199 customers without power.Businesses and schools throughout the areas closed during the storm. The Wymore City Council was scheduled to meet Wednesday evening. The meeting was still held but limited to approving minutes, the treasure’s report, a single business item, claims and payroll. Thursday morning, Fairbury Mayor Kelly Davis posted on Facebook, “If you get a chance, thank a city employee for all the work they did yesterday in some very adverse conditions. All departments banded together do water supply repairs, electrical power line repairs, and picking up trees, limbs and branches. These people worked their tails off throughout the day. I made contact with them several times to see how things were going and to make sure everyone was doing okay, and each time the conversation ended, they would say, ‘we will keep going and we will get it done.’ There is still a lot of work to do, so please show them some patience, and respect!! Thank you, guys, Fairbury is lucky to have you all!!!”Likewise, Governor Pillen expressed his appreciation to those who have been managing aspects of storm since, “From state troopers who assisted stranded motorists, to snow removal crews and now those involved in repairing downed lines to re-establish our power grid – a lot of people have stepped up very quickly to ensure that our safety has been the number one priority,”

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