9:40 p.m., Aug. 9, 2025

Approximately 10,750 customers are still without power at this time. We are still anticipating that number will be under 10,000 by day’s end.

Additional mutual aid resources will be joining us first thing in the morning to help with restoration efforts. We know it’s tough to be without power for so long, and we promise to keep working diligently to bring power back to all as soon as safely possible.

This will be our final update of the evening. We will provide our next update Sunday morning. 

At right, an uprooted tree in Valley is entangled with power equipment, an example of the damage caused by this morning’s strong winds.

6:55 p.m. – With help from mutual aid and contractor teams, our crews have made good progress today with 72% of the nearly 40,000 impacted customers restored as of 6 p.m. We will not let up our efforts until all customers have their power back.  

Of those still without power, approximately 10,000 may not have electric service restored until sometime tomorrow. This is due to the extent of damage we are seeing and the complex nature of repairs needed, including untangling trees and large limbs from power lines, as well as rebuilding transmission structures and power lines knocked down in winds of up to 80 mph. A smaller number of customers, especially in the hard-hit areas of Bennington and Blair, may not have power until Monday. We have called the customers whose repairs are expected to continue past today, so they can plan accordingly. We will continue to keep our customers updated to the best of our ability, making more phone calls to those still without power by late tomorrow afternoon or early evening. 

Our crews have been working since early this morning, “all hands-on deck,” as soon as the worst of the storms had moved through and it was safe to do so. We also called on our contractor and mutual aid partners early on, including tree crews, early on to lend a helping hand. In total, 412 workers were out in the field today working on restoring power to our impacted customers. More than half of those came from outside the utility including from LE Myers, Fremont Utilities, CSR – Vector, CSR – PLC, RS Electric, Burns Electric, and Watts & High Voltage, as well as Asplundh & Wright tree crews. Tomorrow morning, we’ll be getting additional help from NPPD. This mutual aid is critical when it comes to taking care of our customers. We are grateful for the support, and we will help our partners in their time of need.

For those still without power, we know how difficult it is to be without electricity for so long, particularly during this late summer heat. Please know that we’re working as quickly as safely possible to bring your lights and air conditioning back on, and we will continue to work diligently until you’re comfortable once again. As tempting as it is to approach crews working in your area, we ask that you please refrain from doing so as they must maintain complete focus on the dangerous work they are completing. This focus not only keeps our team and the public safe, but it also helps ensure the work is completed as efficiently as possible. 

If you have not reported your power outage or you notice that those around you have power back and you do not, please let us know as soon as possible so we can troubleshoot. It may be as simple as resetting your circuit breaker, but there may be a separate issue impacting you that we need to address. You can do so at OPPD.com by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773). 

Please be aware that we do not clean up tree debris caused by storms. That work is a homeowner’s responsibility. And while the utility takes care of wires that lead from a power pole to the point just before they enter a home’s conduit system, homeowners are responsible for hiring a licensed electrician to repair damage to meter sockets or power poles attached to their home. See this story and graphic for more details. 

We thank you for your patience as we work to restore power throughout our service territory.  

4:30 p.m. – Approximately 16,600 customers remain without power at this time as our restoration work continues. We have mutual aid crews from Kansas and Missouri, as well as local contractor partners, helping us with this massive job.

To the right are some photos from western Douglas County (254th St. & Maple St. and 180th St. & Bennington Rd.), showing the kind of damage our crews are up against.

12 p.m.  We want to share a quick reminder about tree debris.

During major outage events, we generally will not clear branches and limbs beyond what is necessary to restore power to customers. This allows our crews and contractors to move more quickly to other customers who are without power so that we can help as many people as we can, as quickly as possible.

You can read more about our tree debris policy here.

Right now, we’re aware of two tree debris drop-off sites. One is in Gretna (213th and Capehart Roads and another is in Valley (210 W. Church St.). Please contact those local communities if you have questions about their drop-off policies.

As of noon today, we still have 20,172 customers without power, primarily in Douglas, Washington, Saunders and Sarpy counties, with a few other outages scattered elsewhere. Our crews and contractors are out now and will keep working diligently to restore everyone’s power. The rainy summer we’ve had this year has saturated the soil in many places, which may have contributed to some trees falling into power lines.

We’ll share more information as it comes to us.

10 a.m., Aug. 9, 2025

We are out in force right now to restore power to all customers as quickly as possible after last night’s unexpectedly strong windstorm.

At the peak of this outage event, we logged 39,797 customers without power throughout our service territory. As of 9:20 a.m., we’ve restored power to 10,365 customers (35% of all affected) and that number continues to climb as we help more customers. The hardest-hit areas were Douglas, Washington, Saunders and Sarpy counties, but the storm caused outages in several other counties within our territory.

We have 27 line crews on duty and 10 metro troubleshooter teams, and more workers are mobilizing as we speak. We also have contracted 36 tree crews available to help clear tree debris so that our crews can work. We’ve contacted mutual aid crews from Kansas and Missouri as well, and our wires-down team is mobilizing to help cover smaller, individual repairs when possible.

A few reminders for everyone as we work our way through this event:

• All major outages are fluid events, especially at the beginning as we learn more about the extent of the damage. Initial assessments can change quickly.
• Please give our field workers plenty of space, and don’t distract them while they’re working. This is for your safety and theirs.
• Please avoid areas with extensive damage, and be very careful around fallen trees and debris. If you see a downed power line, do not go near it. Assume that it is electrified and extremely dangerous.
• Please make sure to report your outages. Do not assume that someone else reported it. This is a large event and we want to make absolutely certain that we’re helping everyone needs it. You can report outages online at oppd.com, through the OPPDconnect app, or by calling 1-800-554-6773.
• We’ll provide updates as learn more here on Storm & Outage and through social media as well as other channels.

7:38 a.m., Aug. 9, 2025

Outages now stand at 32,667 throughout our service territory. We expect outage numbers to fluctuate as our customers wake up to learn they are without power. All available OPPD crews have been called in to assess damage, clear tree limbs and debris from power lines and make repairs. We have also lined up mutual aid support with around 70 linemen headed our way from Kansas and Missouri. Some of our local contractors will also be pitching in to help.

In storms like this, navigating debris-strewn roadways and getting into impacted areas can be challenging. This is especially true in rural areas, where bringing power back can be particularly time intensive. We thank our customers in advance for their patience as we embark on this restoration work. And we ask that you refrain from approaching crews so they can focus on their dangerous work.

It’s important that you report any service disruptions you are experiencing if you have not already done so, to be sure we’re aware and can respond. You can do that online or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773).

6:48 a.m. There are now 39,615 outages reported across our service territory as severe weather begins to move toward the east of our service territory.

6:40 a.m. Outage numbers continue to increase, with 34,736 customers currently without power. This storm is bringing lots of lightning as well as flash flooding, and we’ve heard reports of trees and large tree limbs being knocked down in the strong winds we’re experiencing this morning — between 60 and 80 mph.

Right now, 21,714 of the power outages reported are in Douglas County, 5,653 in Saunders County, 4,230 in Washington County and 2,489 in Sarpy County. We’re also seeing smaller numbers of outages in Pottawattamie (Carter Lake), Otoe, Dodge, Johnson, Nemaha and Cass Counties. Our crews will be responding as it is safe to do so.

6:30 a.m. Outages have jumped to 25,637 in total at this time with 16,878 of these in Douglas County, 5,633 in Saunders County and 2,456 in Sarpy County.

6:24 a.m. We now have 20,011 power outages across nine of the 13 counties we serve. The highest number are still in Douglas County at this time, with 12,282 power outages reported at this time. In Saunders County, 5,627 are without power. In Sarpy County, 2,446 customers are impacted.

6:15 a.m. Outages are climbing quickly, with 16,475 customers now without power across our service territory. More than 7,700 are in Douglas County, more than 5,600 in Saunders County, and more than 2,400 in Sarpy County.

6 a.m. – Severe storms are moving through our service territory, bringing damaging winds of up to 80 mph, heavy rain and hail. We currently have more than 8,000 power outages across multiple counties. Nearly 5,600 of these outages are in Saunders County and more than 1,000 in Douglas County.

Please report any outages you are experiencing to OPPD online or by calling 1-800-554-OPPD (6773) to ensure we are aware of the trouble in your specific area.