'Riding the Storm Out'
Severe Ice and Wind Storm caused extended power outages from Feb. 23 - March 6
Last Updated Friday, May 4th 11:00 am
Outage Restoral Information
Crews restored power to 4,338 members that were without power because of the ice and snow storm!
Crews are back to working regular hours now. Please call the Tunnel Rats at (507) 450-5974 if interested in broken poles.
Photo Gallery
Let us tell our story! See storm destruction causing broken poles and downed power lines in Hawkeye's service territory and see what Hawkeye employees and other cooperatives have done to get your power back on.
Video - coming soon!
Watch 'Riding the Storm Out', a video created as a tribute to the linemen who worked to restore power during the extended outages.
Additional Crews
54 linemen from neighboring rural electric cooperatives assisted Hawkeye to get your lights back on.
- Oakdale (WI) (8)
- Eau Claire (WI) (6)
- Vernon (WI) (4)
- Clark (WI) (2)
- Jackson (WI) (2)
- Adams Columbia (WI) (8)
- Allamakee-Clayton (IA) (8)
- Tri-County REC (MN) (8)
- Riverland (WI) (2)
- Dunn (WI) (2)
- People's (MN) (4)
How Power is Restored
Learn how your power is restored during outages
How it's restored after a severe winter storm
Help After a Disaster (FEMA)
If you experienced severe financial hardships because of the outages, please refer to FEMA's website.
The President Declares Major Disaster For Iowa and Hawkeye was approved for FEMA funds on March 14, 2007 for Chickasaw, Howard and Winnesheik counties.
Website for Iowa Relief
State of Iowa Proclamation of Disaster Emergency (Feb. 24)
State of Iowa Tax Extension for farmers (March 15 deadline)
Important Links:
Estimated Damages
Estimate of Percent of Miles of Damaged Lines 
| Substation |
Rebuild |
Repair |
| Alta Vista |
61% |
39% |
| Cresco |
27% |
73% |
| Festina |
13% |
87% |
| Lawler |
14% |
86% |
| Lime Springs |
46% |
54% |
| Little Turkey |
20% |
80% |
| Saratoga |
100% |
0% |
| Schley |
44% |
56% |
| Wapsi |
24% |
76% |
Iowa REC's Total Storm Related Outages
Look at a map of the storm outages from the Rural Electric Cooperatives in Iowa (updated March 6 at 4:30 pm)
Safety Tips During Outages
Generator Needs
Need a generator? The Iowa Department of Agriculture Responds to Severe Weather Crisis.
How to hook up a standby generator Please use it safely!
Tips for safely using a portable generator
Archive of Restoral Efforts
Reported outages at the end of each day
- Sat/Sun Feb. 24/25: 4,338
- Monday Feb. 26: 1,878
- Tuesday Feb. 27: 611
- Wednesday Feb. 28: 536
- Thursday March 1: 398
- Friday March 2: 409
- Saturday March 3: 245
- Sunday March 4: 125
- Monday March 5: 31
- Tuesday March 6: All members have been restored!
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