NORFOLK, Neb. -- Throughout Nebraska, multiple homes and businesses experienced massive power outages. 

Nebraska Public Power District listed as many as 12,000 customers without power on Wednesday. That number was slashed in half by 6:00 p.m. Many are without power going into the evening in Kearney, Aurora, Geneva and other communities. Many other power companies are also dealing with extensive outages.

According to Nebraska Public Power, "Snow has been very heavy and wet, and high winds have made it not only hard to see, but also made blizzard conditions pretty intense for crews to work on broken poles or lines, which has caused trees to fall into power lines."

"The strong winds can also cause power lines to gallop," said Nebraska Public Power District Media Relations Specialist Grant Otten. "This is where they begin to swing back and forth in the wind. When they hit each other, that can cause power outages as well. So it's a combination of things."

The blizzard conditions make it tough to respond to the outages. "We have some crews out working to get power back on, but early this morning, they had some difficulties, and it was, you know, limited on what could be restored. You can't see five feet in front of your face, and it's not ideal for driving around or getting up in a bucket truck," Otten added.

NPPD also wanted to emphasize that if you see a downed power line and it is not de-energized, it could be energizing the ground around it. So, please stay away, do not approach, and specifically do not touch or drive over it. If you see anything that does not look right to you, they advise you to call NPPD.