Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen has issued a disaster declaration for 7 Panhandle counties for damages and costs connected to the weekend’s storm that brought snow, high winds, and blizzard conditions.
The declaration for Sioux, Banner, Cheyenne, Garden, Kimball, Morrill, and Scotts Bluff counties allows them to tap the Governor’s Emergency Fund to help with clean-up and recovery efforts.
The governor’s office says initial damage estimates exceed $5.4-million dollars, much of it from the loss of over 600 utility poles and dozens of miles of electrical line downed by the combination of high winds and up to 5” of ice accumulation.
The storm cut electrical service to over 4,000 Panhandle residents, many of them in rural areas. Some were still waiting for power to be restored yesterday.
Nebraska Game and Parks announced yesterday morning that most of the facilities at the Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area south of Gering were still closed, including the Nature Center and the Shooting Sports Complex.
Game and Parks offered no estimate on when the buildings would reopen because they’re still without water and would be for a time after power is restored because the pumps for the wells serving both complexes need to be brought back online.
Although the Nature Center and Shooting Sports Complex were closed, trails and campgrounds in the Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area remained open.