Crews inspect thousands of powerlines in southeast Nebraska after destructive winter storm

GENEVA, Neb. (KLKN) — Crews started a three-month inspection of power poles in Fillmore County on Monday, just a couple of months after thousands of customers were left in the dark.

A strong winter storm hit southeast Nebraska in March, knocking down around 1,000 powerlines around the Geneva area.

It took around a month to get them all fixed.

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So as summer kicks off, the Perennial Public Power District is ensuring that its poles are safe and reliable.

The power district brought in crews from a South Dakota company called Technology Inspections.

The team will inspect around 4,000 poles over the next three months.

“We just want to make sure that the community is safe,” said Jaymison Bjorum, a pole inspector.

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He said now that the downed powerlines have been replaced, most of his work is focused on how sturdy they are.

If he notices anything wrong with the poles, he can do small fixes on his own.

If it’s an emergency, he’ll call the power district to send a team out.

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But Bjorum said most of the damage he’s noticed so far has nothing to do with this winter’s storms.

“They’re pretty well taken care of. Perennial does a good job of keeping their poles intact,” he said. “The only real major problem I tend to see is farmers will come by, get a little too close with their mowers while they’re mowing ditches and rip out a chunk out of the pole.”

Perennial Public Power said the inspections will make power more reliable for the people who live in Fillmore County.

When crews regularly do these checks, it can prevent a significant amount of damage when the next severe storm hits.