They were no match for the wind-whipped snow as it stacked in piles up to 12 feet. However, the chlorinator has been returned to service and the water restored to drinking purity.The power was restored to the Spirit Lake plant in time to insure a continuous water supply in that town. Their cozy homes became cold homes. This is the lobby of the Omaha Hilton Hotel after the blizzard.A striped flag warns snowplows of this buried car on Pacific Street.Pacific Street is covered in snow on Jan. 11, 1975, the day after the storm.Gary Lowman, manpower coordinator of the Postal Service, sorts through the overflow of about 20,000 pounds of mail on Jan. 12, 1975. Other losses of 30, 40, 50 and 75 head dead in the storm, came from almost every farm that had any livestock.
Farmers were struck another fierce blow in an already disastrous year as large numbers of cattle dropped to the snow from exposure. For much of the blizzard, snowmobiles were the only feasible means of transportation.Fortunately, there were no serious injuries reported among Dickinson County snowmobilers assisting in the rescue efforts.However, Raymond Mayou, 32, of Spencer lost his life Friday night after he became lost in the storm during rescue efforts and froze to death.Commendations for all the snowmobilers’ efforts have come from many corners, and a more complete account of their efforts will appear in next week’s Beacon.Numerous phone lines were downed by the storm over the weekend, reports Dave Machula of Northwestern Bell in Spirit Lake.In addition, the power outages in Spirit Lake, Arnolds Park and Wahpeton forced the company to go to battery power in those areas. K.L. The vehicle was used to transport Dr. K. L. Clayton to Superior to aid Kate Kepler in child birth, but he arrived shortly after the birth had occurred.Snowmobilers stormed into action during the blizzard, and their efforts played a major contribution to keeping the emergency operations functioning.
TOM PLAMBECK/THE WORLD-HERALD Visibility was zero for most of ‘the period with electrical outages reported all around Lake Park, while the lights only flickered a time or two in town, the rural areas and Ocheyedan, Harris, Melvin and the surrounding farms areas were without electricity from about 8:00 p.m. on Friday night until Sunday afternoon.
As the storm system began to move northeastward out of Oklahoma, the cool air behind pulled down behind the system interacted with the moisture being pulled northward to produce snow over a large part of the Midwest. Service had been delayed due to the blizzard and postal trucks were still stranded on the streets, many of which had mail in them.Motorists abandon their cars and trucks in search of shelter on 72nd Street during the blizzard on Jan. 10, 1975.These vehicles were stalled on 72nd Street, south of Dodge. Omaha A number of different weather records (at the time) were set during the four days of this storm, especially in daily high temperatures, wind gusts, low barometric pressure readings, and number of tornadoes. His classic remark, “Is this what you call a blizzard?”Bili Ahari and son Jim, sextons at the Lakeview Cemetery at Spirit Lake and the Okoboji Cemetery were involved in a funeral Friday afternoon and were fortunate to find lodging at the Oaks Motel when it became impossible to get any further toward their farm home 5 miles northeast of Spirit Lake. Bill Dean worked continuously at the Spirit Lake plant from Friday to Sunday during the storm.Dickinson County farmers were dealt yet another blow in what has been a disastrous period when last weekend’s blizzard roared through northwest Iowa and left a multitude of dead livestock at its heels.Early estimates place the number of Dickinson County cattle which perished in the blizzard somewhere between 1500 and 2000 head.The western portion of the county was apparently hit the hardest by livestock losses.That is where the largest concentration of livestock is in the county, according to ASC manager Duane Curry, and it is also the portion hit hardest by the drought last summer.Two of the greatest losses have been suffered by Bob and Fred Ahrenstorff, who estimated that they had lost over 350 head, and Bernie Cohrs who has lost over 250 head.Cattle belonging to O.K. TOM PLAMBECK/THE WORLD-HERALD Omaha Domenico's Restaurant survived the blizzard, but was destroyed in the tornado in May, just a few months later.Abandoned cars and a truck are seen on L Street at 88th on Jan. 12, 1975.World-Herald paper carrier Gail Rickert of Omaha found a way to deliver papers in the stormThe blizzard of 1975 started on January 10 and continued throughout the weekend, as seen here looking west on Williams Street from 12th Street.Jerry Bowen, 13, digs his parent's car out of the snow next to a 10 foot pile deposited in from parking lot at 16th and Cuming Streets on Jan. 13, 1975.Highway 36 northwest of Omaha is covered in snow following the 1975 blizzard.Firemen, using a National Guard vehicle, take an elderly Omaha woman to St. Joseph Hospital on January 12, 1975.The blizzard was part of a larger storm that suffocated the Midwest in wind and snow and that hurled tornadoes across the southeast.
Mrs. Edna Snow, Mrs. Kepler’s mother and also a resident of Superior, was not able to make it to the Kepler home during the night and was brought by snowmobile at about 8 a.m. to see her new grandson.The couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Gretchen, slept soundly through the night, and Mr. Kepler? PHIL JOHNSON/THE WORLD-HERALD