(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s utilities will need a few days to get electricity restored to everyone after the powerful storm system that raked across the entire state last (Wednesday) night, packing winds approaching 90 miles an hour. Tina Hoffman, spokeswoman for MidAmerican Energy, says repair crews responded after the first outages were reported, braving the severe weather to get people back online. “We had nearly 50,000 customers at the peak experiencing an outage,” Hoffman says. “Despite really challenging working conditions overnight, our crews were able to make great progress and we’ve been able to restore over 30,000 customers just in the overnight hours.”

At least five tornadoes are confirmed to have touched down in the state during the storm and as many as 150-thousand customers statewide lost power. Hoffman says damage to MidAmerican’s power infrastructure will take time to repair — or replace. “Transmission lines and distribution lines were both affected. Those transmission lines feed the distribution lines, so in some areas it will take longer to get some of those customers on,” Hoffman says. “We’ve got all hands on deck. We’re calling in additional crews, even from neighboring utilities and we’ll be working 24-7.”

Fort Dodge and the surrounding area have significant storm damage, according to Hoffman, and some residents there may not see the power restored until Saturday morning. Also, the Council Bluffs area was hard hit by the strong, straight line winds. “We’re estimating that we’ll be able to restore most customers in that area by midnight tonight but some could take as long as 6 PM on Saturday,” Hoffman says. “Those are going to be a long few days for those folks in that area. Lots of poles that we’ll need to replace and really get in there and make some major repairs in that area.”

As Iowans survey the damage, Hoffman makes two requests of customers. “First and foremost, it’s very important to stay away from any downed lines you might see. Assume they’re energized. Don’t go near them and call us right away,” Hoffman says. “Second, if you have an outage, report it to us and we’ll get out there as quickly and as safely as we can.”

As of mid-morning, Thursday, Alliant Energy was reporting more than 27-thousand of its customers were still without power in Iowa and Wisconsin.