OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A destructive and deadly storm blew through the Omaha-metro on Saturday morning, knocking over large trees and leaving nearly 40,000 without power.
Many in the Omaha area were awakened by emergency alerts going off on their phones alerting to winds up to 80 miles per hour.
OPPD was “out in full force” in the aftermath, working to restore power to 39,797 customers without power across their service area. As of 9:20 a.m. Saturday, they had restored power to 10,365 customers — about 35% of those affected. As of 6:30 p.m., just over 15,000 customers remain without power.
27 line crews and 10 metro troubleshooter teams have been mobilized, with more workers on the way, according to OPPD. 36 tree crews have also been commissioned, and mutual aid teams from Kansas and Missouri have also been contacted.
OPPD also shared some reminders as power recovery efforts are underway:
- All major outages are fluid events, especially at the beginning as we learn more about the extent of the damage. Initial assessments can change quickly.
- Please give field workers plenty of space, and don’t distract them while they’re working. This is for your safety and theirs.
- Please avoid areas with extensive damage, and be very careful around fallen trees and debris. If you see a downed power line, do not go near it. Assume that it is electrified and extremely dangerous.
- Please make sure to report your outages. Do not assume that someone else reported it. This is a large event and we want to make absolutely certain that we’re helping everyone needs it. You can report outages online at oppd.com , through the OPPDconnect app, or by calling 1-800-554-6773.
The City of Omaha told First Alert 6 a debris drop-off site is being organized at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park, 905 Elkhorn Drive. The site will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. August 9 and 10 for anyone (non-commercial) who wants to drop off their debris…