Winter Storm Nyla Whips Western Iowa in March; Cooperative Spirit Restores Power, Hope
- Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 9 minutes ago
On March 19, 2025, a devastating winter storm struck Northwest Iowa, leaving thousands without power when it advanced through western and central Iowa. Named Winter Storm Nyla, the snow, ice, and heavy winds brought by her wrath downed eleven miles of transmission lines, took twenty substations offline, and damaged 232 structures in the Northwest Iowa Power Cooperative (NIPCO) transmission system. For NIPCO, damage was concentrated primarily in western Monona County near Onawa and western Harrison County near Logan.
“This is the most significant damage our infrastructure has sustained in 34 years,”said NIPCO Executive Vice President and General Manager Matt Washburn.“ The combination of severe winter conditions and challenging terrain made the initial damage assessment and restoration efforts particularly difficult.”
On March 20, Governor Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation for five counties in Iowa: Crawford, Harrison, Monona, Shelby, and Woodbury. All five of these counties are served by NIPCO and its member cooperatives. According to a March 20 press release issued by the State of Iowa website, “The proclamation also temporarily suspends regulatory provisions of the Iowa Code that pertain to hours of service for disaster repair crews and drivers delivering goods and services while responding to disaster sites, and various requirements for the transportation of loads related to disaster repairs on highways within Iowa.”
By March 21, response teams had made substantial progress, reducing consumer outages from nearly 3,500 to 721, mainly in and around the Onawa area. Seven substations were brought back online that day, though 13 remained without power.
The recovery effort mobilized 43 transmission lineworkers from multiple organizations, including eight crew members from NIPCO, 23 crew members from neighboring generation and transmission cooperatives Corn Belt Power Cooperative (Humboldt, Iowa) and East River Electric Power Cooperative (Madison, South Dakota) through mutual aid assistance, and twelve contractors from Watts Electric who were in the area performing upgrade work were redirected to storm repair.
Crews reported that melting snow created soft ground and thick mud conditions, complicating equipment access to damaged areas and slowing repair operations. Workers faced the labor-intensive task of clearing damaged structures before new infrastructure could be installed.
The storm’s impact extended across several service territories served by members of Harrison County REC, Western Iowa Power Cooperative, Western Iowa Municipal Electric Cooperative Association, and Woodbury County REC.
Residents praised the dedication of power crews and underscored the value of working together. As one Onawa resident commented on social media: “There are not enough THANK YOUs to say for all you are doing. … after seeing the downed lines between Turin and Onawa today, it could have been so much worse. Situations like these only make us stronger. Go Team Power!”
Washburn points to the value of cooperative friends and vendors who quickly offered assistance and access to critical materials during the crisis as a crucial element to NIPCO’s ability to react and respond to this multi-day outage event. “The overwhelming support we’ve received exemplifies the cooperative principle of ‘Cooperation Among Cooperatives,’” Washburn noted. “When we work together, sharing resources and expertise across cooperative boundaries, we can restore power more efficiently and effectively than any single organization could manage alone. This storm has been a powerful reminder that the cooperative model isn’t just a business structure—it’s a community coming together when it matters most.”
During the almost 84-hour outage, NIPCO’s communications efforts garnered nearly 450 thousand engagements on social media, and NIPCO’s Facebook page gained a thousand new followers. NIPCO’s website traffic increased by almost 800%. Live video updates from Matt Washburn were positively received, with many noting that his updates provided hope and much-needed information about restoration efforts. Considering the circumstances, the public sentiment and reception of the communication efforts of NIPCO and its member cooperatives were very positive.
On April 15, Governor Kim Reynolds requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration for four Iowa counties impacted by the March 19 storm. Each of these counties is located within the NIPCO system.
According to a press release issued on the Governor’s website,
“Gov. Reynolds requested funding under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance Program for Crawford, Harrison, Monona, and Woodbury counties for significant damage to public infrastructure and private property caused by the severe weather."
“Following a joint federal, state, and local damage assessment of the affected counties, it was estimated the severe weather resulted in more than $8 million worth of damage that could be eligible under the Public Assistance program."
“The FEMA Public Assistance program provides funds that can be used for the restoration of damaged utilities, debris removal, and other emergency protective measures including but not limited to sheltering, essential needs, and movement of emergency supplies.”
To access NIPCO’s March 2025 Winter Storm Outage Communication Page, visit NIPCO’s website at https://www.nipco.coop/2025-winter-storm-outage-updates
