Ice, sleet, snow make Oklahoma a winter nightmare 12/26/2000 By The Associated Press

Snow and ice pelted Oklahoma today, as a second day of winter weather further coated slick and dangerous roads throughout the state, shutting down many businesses and knocking out power to tens of thousands of residents. Nonessential state employees were told to stay home as were students at schools and businesses throughout the state, though many schools remained on winter break.

About 27,000 people were without power across the state Tuesday, though that number could be much higher, officials said.

OG&E spokesman Tim Hartley said about 20,000 of its customers had no electricity.

Thousands more Oklahomans rely on about a dozen electric cooperatives, which also experienced problems. At one cooperative — the Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative — about 7,000 of 17,000 customers were without power Tuesday.

Hartley said downed lines and falling tree branches caused the biggest outages in Ardmore, McAlester, Ada, Poteau, Muskogee and near Fort Smith, Ark., and that officials continued to try to keep up with the problems.

“It’s actually getting worse now and we’re losing some ground,” Hartley said.

About 3,000 people were without electricity in Oklahoma City, while 95 percent of McAlester was without power after almost an inch of ice downed power lines and trees throughout town.

McAlester City Manager Randy Green said the city’s water supply was affected and that town was “dangerously low” on water.

In his rural home just north of the Grady County line, Ronald Goeller, 66, turned to a propane stove for heat after his power went out around 2 a.m. Tuesday.

“I’ve got two or three neighbors who are older than me and the only heat they’ve got is electric heat. But I won’t be without my propane,” he said.

People waited impatiently in lines at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City after officials announced the airport was “virtually shut down” after most of its flights were canceled Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Gregg Tiven, 22, and his girlfriend, Katie Keenan, 22, waited to get home to New York City after a holiday visit to Keenan’s parents’ house. Their morning flight was canceled.

“We came for the holidays and now we’re never leaving,” Tiven said.

A native New Yorker, Tiven said he was surprised at how ill-equipped Oklahoma officials seemed to be in battling the snow.

“When we were driving down the roads nothing was plowed, there was no dirt out, there’s no ice. I don’t feel like I’m in my own country at this point,” he said.

While several people were killed in accidents across the state Monday, Tuesday was shaping up to be better for Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Sam Graves.

“Accident-wise we’re looking good. The roads are still slick and hazardous and we guess they’ll get worse, but there’s not as many people on the roads, which is helping quite a bit,” Graves said.

A surprising friend to motorists Tuesday was the snow, which gave many roads a semblance of traction where Monday there was none.

“So far it’s really been nice,” said Graves, who described Monday as a nightmare.

“Yesterday was much worse. There were a lot more people out yesterday than there are today.”

Brad Neidy, an OHP supervisor based in Clinton, said visibility was down to nearly nothing in Beckham County and that snow continued to fall with several inches already on the ground.

He said some entrance ramps to Interstate 40 were blocked by stuck semi-trailers, but that traffic was almost non-existent.

“You can’t see where the road is. Across from the headquarters, somebody tried to drive into a driveway and drove into a ditch instead.”

OHP dispatcher Jack Norris said an almost complete lack of traffic and people who were driving with more tact were making his day easier.

“When it rains a lot, people end up learning how to drive in it,” he said.

“I got off at 11 o’clock last night and it was a sheet of ice with no margin of error. But now we’ve had some snow, what little bit of traffic is moving is not moving fast, and people are taking it easy.”

Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management, said Tuesday that problems seemed to be limited to poor driving conditions and power outages.

“We’re just waiting and monitoring the information we are receiving,” she said. “At this point I don’t have any report of any tragedies.

“We’re still in the recovery phase, waiting to hear what the needs are and what resources are available, then get them out to the respective cities and counties.”

Oklahoma saw a mixture of moisture Monday and Tuesday, with snow in most of northern Oklahoma, sleet and freezing rain in central and northeastern Oklahoma and freezing rain in the southcentral and southeastern parts of the state.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ken Gallant said while temperatures looked to remain around freezing or below throughout the week, precipitation should start to slack by late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

“It may not end completely but it should be diminishing by early tomorrow,” he said Tuesday.

http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=611239&pic=none&TP=getarticle

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 26, 2000

Answers

McAlester under state of emergency 12/26/2000 From staff reports

McAlester is under a state of emergency today as the worst ice storm to strike southeast Oklahoma in years shut down power and threatened to leave the city without water. Cell phone and Internet service also are down in McAlester, City Manager Randy Green said.

"So there's no way to get the message out to people that we're in a state of emergency."

"People can't e-mail out, they can't use cell phones; they can't do anything."

The only ones with power are those with backup generators, such as city hall and the maximum-security prison.

"We're a little concerned. We have some water stored, but we're taking precautions, just so we have enough to flush the toilets and for food service later on," said Jane Standifird, deputy warden at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

City officials sent police officers to the area's major employers this morning and asked them to close to preserve McAlester's remaining water supply.

McAlester, with about 17,000 residents, is the largest city in southeastern Oklahoma.

http://www.oklahoman.com/cgi-bin/show_article? ID=611236&pic=none&TP=getarticle

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 26, 2000.

12/27 08:16 Ice Storm Paralyzes Parts of the Southern U.S., AP Reports By Geoffrey Smith

Little Rock, Arkansas, Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- An ice storm across the southern Plains of the U.S. stranded travelers and knocked out power to nearly a half-million homes and businesses throughout the region, the Associated Press reported.

The weather has led to nine traffic deaths and caused the governor of Arkansas to shut down state government today, AP said.

About 214,000 Arkansas customers were without electricity early today, while 120,000 Oklahoma homes and businesses had no power late yesterday, AP said. About 106,000 Texas customers and 50,000 Louisiana customers lost electricity for part of yesterday, AP said.

A break in the icy weather was forecast for tomorrow by the National Weather Service at North Little Rock, Arkansas, AP said. Forecaster Nelson De Villiers said another batch of moisture is predicted to hit the region tomorrow night, though said it may just be snow, AP said.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20World% 20News&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_topworld&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2 =blk&bt=ad_position1_windex&middle=ad_frame2_windex&s=AOknrshQpSWNlIFN 0

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 27, 2000.