GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – More than 36 hours later and some Green Bay residents are finally getting their power back.
That nasty spring snowstorm on Tuesday night uprooted a tree in the Burns Avenue neighborhood on Green Bay’s westside. The tree tangling with powerlines as it crashed to the road, wiping out power for dozens of homes in the neighborhood.
“I was just shocked, just a mess, it’s terrible it’s absolutely terrible,” said William Luedeman who lives across the street from where the tree fell.
For nearly two days, powerlines lay in the street as the tree blocked the road.
“Somebody is going to get hurt, I mean there’s powerlines laying all over,” said Luedeman. “That’s what scares me the most is somebody getting hurt out here.”
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Residents said they had been calling WPS and the city of Green Bay for help with no luck. Initially, residents said WPS officials told them because the tree had fallen from a private residence they couldn’t help out.
“You want to scream and say who can help me?,” said Christine Hanna. “It’s very frustrating for everybody.”
Local 5 News knocked on the door of the home where the tree had fallen. The homeowner didn’t want to speak on camera, but said he’s thankful that the power has been restored.
Although WPS workers have removed the powerlines that had fallen and cut parts of the tree, most of the branches remain in the street.
In a statement, a WPS spokesman refuted the assertion that they couldn’t remove the tree because it’s on private property instead blaming the number of service requests for the delays:
Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) crew are on scene of the outage near Burns Ave. and Bentwood Drive in Green Bay, and have helped remove the large tree so residents are able to travel around the area. Power was restored a few moments ago to the customers affected by this outage.
During large storm and restoration events such as this, our crews will remove trees and other hazards from private property as part of our ongoing commitment to safety. Customers who see trees that have fallen onto electric equipment should contact us immediately so we can send specialized crews to safely remove the tree, whether it is on private or public property.
The widespread nature of this storm has resulted in more than 1,500 reports of damaged utility poles, downed power lines, large trees and trees falling onto our equipment. This type of damage takes some time to repair, but we are continuing to work non-stop until all customers have had power restored.
WPS Senior Communications Specialist
WPS crews arrived on the scene around 3 p.m. and it took about two hours to get the power back.
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“I have the utmost respect for every single one of them (the WPS workers), they’re doing their best that’s all we can ask,” said Irene Stock who lives in the neighborhood.
WPS has restored power for more than 80,000 customers and expect that 97 percent of their customers who lost power will have it back by the end of Friday. A spokesperson said they’ve received 1,500 reports of damaged utility poles, downed power lines and large trees and tree limbs falling onto electric equipment.
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