Omaha storm recovery: OPPD puts cost of July 31 storm at $30 million

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - OPPD says the initial bill for damage caused by the storm that hit the Omaha-metro on July 31 is $30 million.

After restoring all power outages Friday, Omaha Public Power District gave an update Tuesday on the response to the massive windstorm that knocked out power to more than 220,000 of the utility’s customers. OPPD officials said they expect the majority of that total to be reimbursed by FEMA.

The $30 million price tag includes equipment such as utility poles, transformers, cross arms, and wire; damage to OPPD property; plus mutual aid and OPPD staff and crew pay — plus overtime — for all the people working out in the field as well as those behind the scenes.

The mutual aid costs cover hotel rooms and meals for those providing OPPD with assistance getting power restored.

The storm on the last day of July was massive. High winds and rain caused widespread destruction. But it wasn’t OPPD’s first dance with an angry Mother Nature.

“This historic storm was the sixth major storm declared event in our service territory so far this year,” said OPPD’s Shane Hanson.

But this was the worst. Around 221,000 — about half of OPPD’s customers — were left without power in the wake of that storm. It was the most outages in the history of the utility. And officials had to call other power companies for help.

“At the peak of restoration, we had about 1,500 people in the field and hundreds of behind the scenes employees working on these restoration efforts,” Hanson said.

Officials were up front, telling customers it would take time to turn all the power back on.

“A lot of the work was In backyards. A lot of climbling — we couldn’t get our trucks and machinery to every pole,” OPPD’s Matt Hardebeck said.

OPPD reinforced that they didn’t play favorites to any particular area of town as to who got their lights on first.

“We do prioritize critical services such as national defense public works hospitals, etc.,” Hardebeck said. “We look for restoratons that can bring the most power back to most people in the shortest amount of time.”

OPPD officials said that this storm, like others, provided them with a learning opportunity about how to better handle storms that cause massive damage. One such lesson: tree trimming.

Right now the utility spends $15 million annually to trim trees away from lines.

“We’re investing five times more than we were investing 10 years ago, and yet that is not enough,” OPPD CEO Javier Fernandez said.

Another lesson the utility has been discussing for years: getting rid of the 1940s and ’50s utility poles and putting the hook-ups underground.

“Undergroundign is not only expensive, but its also increadbly disruptive,” Fernandez said. “We are looking at where are the best circuits where we can relatively easily go in and underground those main primary circuits that could significantly shorten or eliminate some of the risk we have with overhead facilities.”

OPPD officials warn that even though the major restoration effort is over, the full effects of the storm are not.

“In this last week alone, we’ve seen hundreds of outages caused by things that were damaged but were not yet broken,” Fernandez said. “Trees that were damaged haven’t quite fallen yet, pieces of equipment that we damaged haven’t quite fallen yet.”

DEBRIS DUMPING UPDATE

As for dump sites, city officials announced Tuesday that Levi Carter Park is open, after closing Monday from overnight rainfall.

Other debris drop-off sites remain closed, such as Greenbriar Park and the 156 location.

On Monday, curbside pickup began in Douglas County and Bellevue. Residents have been anxiously waiting for their debris to be cleared.

Omaha Public Works gave a progress update Monday on debris cleanup after the historic July 31 storms. Officials still say the cleanup across town could take two or three weeks.

Officials tell 6 News the recent rain that fell won’t help speed up things for people that use the city dump sites to clean up their tree debris.

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