Oklahoma Hit Hard by Winter Storm
The ice and snow storm started crawling across the state Thursday leaving ice as thick as two inches in some areas and thousands with out power.
Today, snow is adding to the misery. When it is all said and done some areas of the state is expected to have 10 inches or more of snow on the ground.
Governor Brad Henry wasted no time in declaring a state of emergency for all 77 counties and many shelters have been set up across the state for those with out power.
The Red Cross, Salvation Army and other community providers have been assisting those in need and chain saw teams are being deployed to help with clearing the fallen trees.
As of 2 p.m. the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Web site listed 13,450 power outages with 1,430 of those listed in the Oklahoma City metro area.
Crews from Texas are coming to help with the disaster.
Ice storm customer walk up centers have been opened by OG&E in Ada, Seminole, and Pauls Valley.
The storm is also responsible for travel problems.
A portion of Interstate 35 in Noble County was closed by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Thursday evening for nearly two hours because of a seven car accident.
In the south western part of the state some travelers have had to seek refuge in shelters.
There was one report of a California family with a service dog named Buddy seeking refuge in a hotel.
The hotel would not house the family because of the dog, so the Salvation Army stepped in and helped.
Because of the amount of accidents reported,many emergency crews are only responding to injury accidents.
The north central part of the state missed out on the ice but is now dealing with nonstop snow.
At 8 a.m. all three Kay County commissioners described roads as snow packed except for an area south of Tonkawa.
Commissioner Laile Wilson said Fountain Road was a slick and hazardous.
Since then at least two inches of snow has fallen and snow is expected to last well into the evening hours.
Travel is strongly discouraged throughout the state as road conditions continue deteriorating
Visibility is down to a quarter of a mile in some areas.
Many activities have been canceled throughout the state.
For updated information on the situation in Oklahoma, and lists of cancellations log onto any of the following sites.
www.kfor.com
www.koco.com
www.public.oge.com/systemwatch
www.newsok.com
www.ktul.com
www.kotv.com
Published by Marie Lowe
I have a degree in journalism and work for a daily newspaper. In 2005 I was honored as the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Journalist of the Year. Have just entered the fourth year of my mother's battle with ovarian... View profile
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17 Comments
Post a CommentI was in Virginia during their record-breaking snow fall this year. I posted a slide show because it was so amazing. Knowing that Oklahoma hardly ever gets snow, I'm sure they were as ill-prepared as Virginia was when the snow hit.
We got a snow storm coming in Friday. I can't wait until spring.
Good reporting. Most of it missed us. Pretty mild winter so far. Of course, I never leave the house so it's always 70 degrees.
Great report. Storms like this make you wish you could hibernate for the entire winter.
Great work on this. I hope you and yours stay warm and aafe.
It's hitting up pretty hard today. I'm really not a fan of snow. My heart goes out to the people of Oklahoma.
It's a rough winter everywhere! Great info.
I meant, "horrible"!
Excellent report on the horribloe ice storm-they are the most dangerous! I hope everyone will be ok.
How horrible and dangerous. If only people could hole up and forget about the world, it was probably beautiful.