MidAmerican Energy: Power restored for most customers (2024)

Update, 7 a.m. Saturday: MidAmerican Energy's outage site shows less than 1,500 customers still without power. The company said at one point Friday nearly 45,000 people across the state had lost service, but the majority of those were restored late Friday evening.According to the MidAmerican website: We expect to continue making progress overnight, with the majority of the remaining customers restored by noon tomorrow, and all customers restored by tomorrow at midnight. From Friday:Nearly 20,000 MidAmerican Energy customers in Iowa were without power after Friday morning's storms. That included almost 12,000 in the Des Moines area, 2,700 in the Quad Cities and 2,200 in the Fort Dodge area. Video above: Iowa weather: Pop-up showers and storms possible Friday after strong early stormsAccording to the MidAmerican website: Crews are onsite in all areas working to restore customers without power. In some areas, tree debris must be cleared away from lines before our crews can continue work, extending the time for restoration. In addition to MidAmerican and contractor line crews, we have called in additional crews from other parts of the county that will join our teams in restoring customers. Those extra crews will begin arriving later today to take part in the recovery effort.As of approximately 2:45 p.m. Friday, the number of impacted customers had dropped to 10,000 statewide and just over 6,900 in the Des Moines metro.Estimated time of restoration for the areas impacted are noted below (as of 10:30 a.m. Friday):Council Bluffs: Most customers that remain out will be restored by 7 p.m. tonight with all remaining customers restored by 6 a.m. tomorrow.Des Moines: Most customers that remain out will be restored by noon tomorrow with all remaining customers restored by midnight tomorrow.Fort Dodge: Most customers that remain out will be restored by 9 p.m. tonight with all remaining customers restored by 6 a.m. tomorrow.Waterloo: All customers that remain out are expected to be restored by 7 p.m. tonight.Iowa City: All customers that remain out are expected to be restored by 7 p.m. tonight.Quad Cities: Most customers that remain out will be restored by 7 p.m. tonight with all remaining customers restored by 6 a.m. tomorrow.You can see MidAmerican's outage map here.Safety tips during power outagesWhen outside, avoid downed power lines and poles.Assume all fallen power lines are energized.To prevent fires, turn off and unplug heat-producing appliances (irons, coffee pots, hair straighteners, etc.).Unplug electrical devices to avoid damage to them.When possible, use a flashlight instead of candles to avoid fire risks.Leave buildings immediately if you smell natural gas.Food safety during power outagesYou want to keep your refrigerator door closed because it can keep food cold for about four hours, according to ready.gov. A full freezer can keep its temperature for about 48 hours. That drops to 24 hours if the freezer is half full.A good rule of thumb is to throw out food if a thermometer shows the temperature at 40 degrees or higher for two hours or more, or if it has an unusual smell or color.If you don’t have a thermometer, your food could still be safe to refreeze or cook if it still has ice crystals, the Food and Drug Administration says.The FDA recommends freezing containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in case the power goes out. You can also make ice cubes or freeze gel packs in advance.You can also consider freezing items like meat and poultry that you don’t need immediately.Grouping food together helps keep the food colder longer.