Thousands lose power as Alliant gears up

UPDATE: Thousands of Iowans started the day today without electricity.  Alliant Energy reports power was knocked out to the communities of Tipton, Mechanicsville, Clarence and Stanwood around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Power in most of those areas was expected to be restored by 9 a.m., Alliant officials said.

The company says the outage was caused by ice collecting on power lines, but did not take down any power lines or poles.   Spokesman Scott Drzycimski says it's likely the ice caused some lines to come in contact with other lines or objects, tripping a breaker.

• RELATED: Updated outage summary from Alliant Energy

With so many people looking to the skies for what's to come, others are also checking the power lines that pierce those skies.

"After 2007, a lot of new lines will withstand the ice and the wind a little bit better," said Scott Drzycimski of Alliant Energy in Cedar Rapids.

Drzycimski said Tuesday there wasn't much his crews could do as they prepared for this week's storm.

For those in the power business, this is a time to keep crews on standby, just in case of the damage, as we saw three winters ago. Power company Mid-American Energy said today they placed their electric operations workers on alert as well.

And if the power does go out...

"We want people to shelter in their homes," said Jennifer Pickar of the Grant Wood Chapter of the American Red Cross in Cedar Rapids. "Flashlights, batteries. No candles for the obvious fire danger and if you have a generator, run it outside."

What if you are leaving town before the storms come? Drzycimski recommends also taking precautions.

"Turn off your electric equipment. You may not see outages as much as you'll see power surges."

Chris Earl, KCRG-TV