Crews struggle with blocked roads

Dakota Valley crews struggled with blocked roads and tough working conditions over the weekend and through Tuesday, to restore power to members in the western portion of its service area.

The main affected areas included Forbes, Edgeley, Kulm, Jud and Gackle with scattered outages in Sargent and Richland County.

“Dakota Valley had 35 poles go down over the weekend,” said Craig Rysavy, Dakota Valley operations manager. “We’d like to thank our many members who helped our lineman. They patrolled line, bulldozed snow and even let us use their snowmobiles to get around.”

The number of outages varied day-by-day, depending on the weather, with approximately 900 Dakota Valley members without electricity at the peak of the storm, Rysavy said.

Dakota Valley line crews are now in “clean up” mode, repairing damage in isolated spots and patrolling lines in the affected area, he said.

“We know there are still many broken wires out there, and urge our members to stay away from them as they may be energized and pose the danger of severe injury or death,” Rysavy said.

Snowmobilers are especially cautioned to be on the lookout for downed lines or debris from broken poles that may be hidden under the snow along ditches or power line right-of-ways.

Members should report any downed poles or wires to Dakota Valley by calling 1-800-342-4671.

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