Ice storm hits Fairfield area
By: Vicki Tillis, Fairfield Ledger news editor 02/26/2007
The winter storm that crossed Iowa Saturday coating trees,
power lines and poles with ice didn't leave anyone untouched --
including those in the Fairfield area.
Jefferson County's emergency management coordinator Jerry
Calnon said the law center began receiving calls as early as 10 a.m.
about downed lines and electrical outages. The calls escalated, with
the most received from noon to 3 p.m., he said, and extra dispatchers
were called in to help answer those calls.
Calnon said the police reserves, the Fairfield Fire Department
and the city street crews were all called to duty to respond to
downed power lines, clear fallen trees from streets, direct traffic
and put up stop signs where traffic lights were out, and check on
residents.
"Their services were totally invaluable," said Calnon, pointing
out how the community took care of its own.
Southern Prairie Chapter of American Red Cross set up a warming
shelter for a few hours Saturday evening at Fairfield Middle School,
plus First United Methodist Church and the Best Western Fairfield Inn
lobby opened their doors for anyone who needed a warm place to go,
but Calnon said he was unaware of anyone taking advantage of the
shelters.
The shelters may have went unused because there was a problem
notifying people about them, Calnon said, explaining that the local
radio station lost part of its communication capabilities.
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Because no one arrived at the shelter, it closed and Red Cross
workers Jennifer Francisco and Brian Hawthorne were dispatched to
Bonaparte to set up a shelter in the Bonaparte Opera House.
Francisco said several people took advantage of the shelter,
where a generator was available to provide energy for heat, coffee
and food.
She said several firemen also visited the shelter while they
watched the Des Moines River, which was threatening to overflow its
banks because of an ice jam just east of town.
Bonnie Cass, Bonaparte Main Street director, said the firemen
went door to door to let residents know what was happening so they
could be prepared to evacuate if necessary.
"We were very, very prepared," she said.
The river water reached into the park and low-lying areas of
town, but then receded after the ice jam broke around 10 p.m.
Saturday.
The village's electricity was restored Sunday, and today Cass
said, "We're back to normal."
In Stockport, where electricity was still out today, the
students who attend Stockport Elementary Center were bused to the
Douds Elementary Center.
Alliant Energy spokesman Scott Drzycimski said this afternoon
that 197 customers in Stockport are without power. That outage is
being caused by a transmission line problem, which could take from
three days to more than seven days to repair.
Drzycimski said Alliant knows of one customer without out
electricity in Birmingham, eight in Keosauqua, one in Douds and one
in Bonaparte.
Drzycimski had said Sunday morning 500 customers in Fairfield
were among the 95,000-plus customers statewide without electricity.
"This was a major storm with a big impact on many customers,"
said Drzycimski.
He said he understand the inconvenience being without
electricity, but said it was beyond the utility company's control.
Drzycimski said more than 2,000 poles were broken and hundreds
of miles of lines were down statewide.
He said because the transmission lines move the power from
plants to communities, those need to be repaired first; then
distribution lines can be repaired on city streets and in back yards.
Calnon said 95 percent of Alliant's customers in Fairfield have
electricity today. Drzycimski said this afternoon there are 32
customers in Fairfield without power.
Drzycimski said the number waiting for power to be restored may
seem low, but because crews are focusing on transmission lines first,
it could still be days before those customers have electricity.
For the complete story, see the Monday, Feb. 26, 2007, Fairfield
Ledger.
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