Omaha storm recovery: Power outage affecting Benson businesses

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The power outage has been taking a toll on small businesses in Benson.

“This is the second day now. It’s not a good thing, ya know. Not a good thing,” said Lee Franklin, Co-owner of A Taste of New Orleans. “But mother nature is out of your control, so all you can do is adjust and go with it.”

Franklin’s restaurant shares space with Ted and Wally’s ice cream shop. They’re just two of several small businesses along the Benson Strip that are trying to weather the storm.

“We had to shut down the restaurant, but we got the food truck generator going so we can do the food truck,” Franklin said.

The ice cream needs around-the-clock care.

“We’ve got extension cords running to two generators, just trying to keep everything frozen and the right temperatures, the best we could,” Franklin said.

Workers at Ted and Wally’s are splitting what they call “generator duty.” Someone is at the shop all day and night long, making sure the generators are working.

“Ted and Wally’s had employees doing six-to-eight-hour shifts. Then one of the co-owners, Janine came down,” Franklin said.

Making matters worse, the power outage hit on a Benson First Friday. The monthly art walk usually draws in a decent crowd.

J.P. Gurnett with BFF says with or without power, the party will go on — but thankfully electricity did start returning to the area Friday afternoon.

“We’re resilient. We like to problem solve. So, this is just another event where we’re just going to give it our all and use all our available resources, we have to put on a great first Friday,” Gurnett said.

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