Power poles are down in south-central South Dakota leaving about a thousand residents in the dark this Christmas Eve. And depending on the weather, it could be a while before the lights come back on.

Strong winds toppled about 100 power poles between Burke and Herrick in southern Gregory County.

"Yea, the ice has built-up over the last two or three days. We had mist most of the day yesterday and the day before and the ice on the power lines is about the size of a baseball bat," Kevin Mikkelson with Rosebud Electric Cooperative said.

A crew of 15 lineman have been scrambling to get the power back on before the real bad weather blows-in.

"We'll stay out as long as we can still see.  The visibility gets bad enough where it puts our lineman in danger then we'll probably pull them off, but not until then" Mikkelson said.

Crews have made some progress, but it may take a while before everybody is back on-line.

"The town of Gregory has power, the town of Burke.  But the outlying areas, when you get out towards the Missouri River and out west by the White River, there's no power.  Some of these poor souls are going to be without power for two or three days I'm afraid," Mikkelson said.

Rosebud Electric Cooperative maintains 2,500 miles of power lines across three counties in south-central South Dakota.