Itasca-Mantrap (Park Rapids) and Cavalier Rural Electric (Langdon, ND) joined Beltrami Electric Cooperative line crews

and mutual aid crews from three other northern Minnesota co-ops to help turn the lights back on for BEC members affected by the weekend storm. The extra crews are helping cover the most challenging sections of the BEC system where downed or uprooted trees are piled into a tangled mess. 

Electricity has been restored for more than 19,200 co-op members over the past three days with the BEC outage map showing 325 services out of power as of this evening. Crews are cutting their way through piles of downed timber to reconnect lines and replace broken poles.

Lineworkers from North Itasca Electric Co-op (Bigfork), PKM Electric Co-op (Hallock), and Roseau Electric Co-op have been working alongside BEC line crews since last weekend in the restoration effort.

The weather system caused extensive damage and widespread power outages, leaving nearly 90% of Beltrami Electric Cooperative members without power after it barreled through the region. The National Weather Service compared the storm and its straight-line winds to a Category 3 hurricane.

BEC tracks real-time restoration updates on its outage map at: www.beltramielectric.com or through this link: Web Outage Viewer. Members should call 1-800-955-6083 to report an outage.

Co-op members without power and in need of assistance are urged to contact the United Way of Bemidji Area or Disaster Recovery | United Way of Bemidji Area, which is coordinating disaster relief efforts across Beltrami County.