Power shortage brings back old admonitions

Holdrege residents should have a new appreciation for what their parents told them in years gone by.

Many of its residents are enjoying a modicum of comfort one again, with a limited amount of electricity flowing into private homes.

They're much more conscious of what it takes to provide that power, however, with 10 truck-sized generators running at various points around town, including at least one borrowed from McCook.

One of the temporary generators experienced a surge Monday, causing a small fire and forcing it to be shut down, putting one section of town back in the dark.

And, with the local newspaper's presses silent, and radio stations off the air, accurate information was hard to come by, as officials resorted to word-of-mouth.

Holdrege Police Chief Dennis DaMoude's officers have been reduced to going door-to-door to warn about the dangers of using individual generators, as well as giving people rides to shelters and to the hospital.

The schools are still closed, and although one of them is serving as a shelter, efforts are going into restoring power to homes and businesses.

Many Baby Boomers, whose parents came of age during the Depression, used to snicker at admonitions to turn off the lights and close the doors to save energy.

Now, that advice is serving the residents of Holdrege and other affected communities well. Hallways are dark, and power-hogging non-essential appliances are turned off. Residents are thinking twice before flipping on an electrical switch.

We couldn't blame the older folks if they decided to gloat, just a bit.

What's that? you ask, passing an older gentleman in the hall of a nursing home. He repeats what he just said: "I told you so."