UPDATE: Storm Atlas knocks out power, cell service
Winter storm Atlas pelted the Nebraska Panhandle Friday, including the Chadron area, closing roads, downing numerous trees and power lines, leaving hundreds without electricity, and several others without telephone and Internet service.
The storm started as a slushy rain Friday morning, which quickly turned into a downfall of freezing rain and snow by about 9 a.m. This continued well into Saturday morning.
Although the campus was left with electrical power, hundreds in Chadron were not so lucky.
“Two hundred and ninety-four customers are out of power in Chadron,” Mark Becker, media specialist for the Nebraska Public Power District, said Saturday.
Becker said power went out about 2:14 p.m. Friday. NPPD crew members are working to restore power, but as of 3 p.m. he could not state when power would be fully restored to customers.
“It depends on what the situation is,” he said. “If a lot of trees are down then they have to sort through the trees.”
In addition to the power outages the storm also cut cell phone service to numerous AT&T and Viaero Wireless customers.
Viaero Wireless cell phone service in the Chadron area is down due to tower issues a Viaero customer service representative said Saturday.
She said the last report received Saturday, at 8:31 a.m., indicated that crews were not able to reach the towers to isolate the problem.
She was not permitted to release how many customers are affected, and declined to give more information regarding the outage, adding that Viaero public relations would not be available to comment because it is a weekend.
Although AT&T said they would email information on its service status, The Eagle did not receive an email by press time.
Roads near Chadron are also being affected, and, as of 8:17 p.m., highway 385 north and south of Chadron and highway 20 east of Chadron are open, but drivers are advised to use extreme caution while driving. Highway 20 between Crawford and Harrison is closed due to severe driving conditions, according to www.511.nebraska.gov.
