My guess is that the lines were still covered from ice, contracted due to the cold, and then snapped when the 50MPH winds started slamming into them.
They went out on my around 6:00 PM for about 2 minutes. I had to pick up the other half from work at Iowa City around 7:00, I stopped by Walmart on the way home and picked up a couple flashlights and some candles. Good thing too. About 20 minutes after we got home, power was down for about 2 hours. Thank goodness we have a gas fireplace in the living room that we could huddle around 🙂