we've had 2 ice storms within 2 weeks. many of the utility workers have been working solid since the week before christmas. those guys are incredible! but there are still about 10,000 customers in central nebraska without power -- even entire towns (though most of them have generators by now. kearney is provided power through 5 transmission lines and only one was functional for about a week. one more has been brought up and i don't know about the status of the other two. my boss probably won't get power back for 3-4 weeks. (i'm lucky enough to live really close to our utility company, so mine hasn't been off much.)

i've been watching the 10 o'clock news on a station that is still running on generator. they are only using two cameras, minimal lighting, no heat, and had their newsroom evacuated because chunks of ice were coming through the roof!

i drove in the country a bit and the damage is incredible! pictures can't fully capture it. the majority of the electrical poles were damaged -- some snapped like toothpicks, others bent (i didn't know wood could do that!), and others twisted. i've also seen metal transmission towers crumpled. it's really incredible! one of my coworkers put together this slideshow of pictures from the storm. NPPD (our utility company) also has some great photos and news on the progress of getting the electricity going again.

it will be awhile until i take electricity for granted again!