County board declares state of emergency for blizzard

More information was learned at the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners meeting March 31 about the powerful blizzard that blasted the southeastern part of Nebraska earlier in the month. The meeting lasted less than 18 minutes and one of the few items on the brief agenda that morning was to ratify a decision made by Chairman Rich Nelson the previous week to declare a state of emergency for the snow storm and high wind event. 
County Emergency Management Director Ben Crabtree was on hand for the meeting and reported that he had been in contact with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who reported that NPPD had submitted documents stating the power company had sustained at least $132,000 dollars in damage to power poles and lines from the storm. 
“And then I got an email from Southern Public Power District and their initial estimate was around $200,000, but they advised that would be increasing significantly once crews are back out,” Crabtree said. “So that cost will go up.”
He said the county hit its disaster threshold with the damage to NPPD equipment alone, noting that the storm had snapped 53 poles in the county, especially in the southeastern corner near Stockham which was hardest hit. 
Nelson commented that many customers in the county had been without power for many hours starting on Wednesday, and Crabtree reported the power was off 14 hours at his house. Commissioner Jessie Merkel reported that the nearby community of Polk had been without power for 4 to 5 days as a result of the storm. 
Noting that Gov. Jim Pillen had declared a state of emergency for 24 counties in this part of the state on Friday of the storm week, Nelson said he had decided to use his authority as chairman to declare a state of emergency for Hamilton County as well and he signed the declaration on the 26th. The designation helps power and insurance companies with collecting federal aid from FEMA, he said. 
Nelson said the purpose of placing the declaration on the agenda was to get the rest of the board’s blessing on the matter. It was moved and seconded to ratify the declaration and the vote passed unanimously.