Posted on 01/28/2010 3:27:41 PM PST by Star Traveler
By Staff and Wire Reports
Published: 1/28/2010 6:59 AM
Last Modified: 1/28/2010 4:10 PM
Tulsa on Thursday activated its Emergency Operations Center to coordinate city and county governments, medical and social services emergency crews to the winter storm.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett and other officials urged Tulsans to use common sense and stay safe during the storm.
“Please, be very, very careful,” Bartlett said.
He and Interim Police Chief Chuck Jordan said the city will remain safe despite 155 police officers being laid off Friday.
Jordan said officers on other assignments have been shifted back into the field, and all critical services will be covered throughout the storm.
“We will still be manning all of our beats and we will still have minimum staffing levels,” he said.
Officials reminded people to take care when using generators and don’t run them inside a house or garage. More than 100 people suffered injuries related to Carbon Monoxide poisoning during the December 2007 ice storm, according to EMSA.
Bartlett said people should stay inside if possible to avoid dangerous roads and hazardous sidewalks. Car wrecks and slips and falls are usually the most common injuries during this type of storm.
He also urged residents to take care of their pets and keep them warm.
Emergency crews have learned from the 2007 storm by keeping backup generators at critical locations and reworking communication plans, officials said.
PSO has trimmed trees around power plans since that storm and called extra utility crews to the state before the first precipitation hit.
“We’ve taken what we did wrong and made improvements,” Tulsa Fire Chief Allen LaCroix said. “We’re prepared.”
Up to 0.5 inches of ice and 6 inches of snow may accumulate before the storm wraps up Friday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Icing will likely cause extended power outages in and around the Tulsa area, and American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma has called in out-of-state utility crews to begin making their way to Oklahoma.
Gov. Brad Henry declared a state of Emergency on Wednesday night for all 77 counties so that heavy power company vehicles won't be hampered by road weight and size limits.
"Our hope is the storm will not be as severe as many weather models have predicted, but we will be ready to respond to anything," Henry said. "State troopers, National Guard personnel, emergency management officials, road crews and other first responders will all be on call, helping Oklahomans everywhere they can."
The Tulsa Chapter of the American Red Cross has shelters on standby throughout northeastern Oklahoma, including seven in Tulsa, three in Broken Arrow and one each in Jenks, Collinsville, Sand Springs and Owasso, said Brian Jensen, senior director of emergency services.
Cold weather after the storm will likely drive more people with power outages to shelters for warmth. Each are stocked with heater meals and breakfast items, Jensen said.
The Salvation Army’s regular shelter is already filled to capacity, he said.
The Red Cross has stocked enough food to supply 10 shelters for four days, in case trucks aren’t able to get around on the roads, Jensen said.
“We feel pretty comfortable rights now with what we’ve done as far as getting supplies in place,” he said. “The next step is just to watch the system hit.”
As the ice begins to stick to roadways, travel will become hazardous. City of Tulsa crews reported to work early this morning with 6,000 tons of salt ready to combat the ice and snow.
The high today should be 32 degrees, with a low of about 26 degrees, according to the weather service.
Statewide, several flights were canceled at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City and Tulsa International Airport.
The National Weather Service expected up to 12 inches of snow in western and northern Oklahoma, while ice storms and widespread power outages were anticipated in areas south of Interstate 44.
Ice accumulations snapped electrical lines in southwestern Oklahoma, knocking out power to 100 electrical customers in Kiowa County near Hobart, said Andrea Chancellor, spokeswoman for Public Service Company of Oklahoma.
Emergency managers in the region said they expected more power outages as the storm intensified.
"With the amount of ice we're getting on the lines, probably this afternoon parts of town will be in the dark," said Hobart Police Chief Rex Brown.
Matt Lehenbauer, emergency manager in Woodward County in northwestern Oklahoma, said forecasters were predicting 14 to 16 inches of snow in the area.
"It looks like we're going to get more snow than ice," Lehenbauer said. "Our biggest concern is the loss of power."
Terri Angier of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said the agency discouraged travel in the region.
"We are asking people to please stay home today," Angier said. She said the storm appeared as intense as a Christmas Eve blizzard that dumped up to 14 inches of snow on parts of the state, stranding scores of motorists on snow-choked roads.
Meanwhile, authorities in Texas shut down much of the Texas panhandle stretch of Interstate 40 -- from the Oklahoma state line to the New Mexico state line -- because of icy conditions.
An ice storm in 2007 knocked out power to 650,000 utility customers across Oklahoma.
The latest storm comes after a Christmas Eve blizzard dumped up to 14 inches of snow on parts of Oklahoma. Scores of motorists were stranded on snow-choked roads, and most major highways and the state's largest airport were closed.
I hope we get at least one of these this year in Eastern Pa..
Posted 01/28/10 4:38 pm
Producer: Kevin King
PSO is reporting about 30-thousand customers without power in western Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives reports more than 20-thousand without power in western Oklahoma.
OG&E is reporting about 67-hundred without power in central and southern Oklahoma.
100 MPH WINDS AND HAIL ... IN DALLAS...
We’re getting several per year lately... :-)
Hmmm..., hail with 100 MPH winds would cause some damage to windows in houses, I would think... hoo-boy!
NOAA shows winter storm warnings stretching from New Mexico to North Carolina right now.
YEP ...
Excellent USA radar weather map from NOAA at the link below.
Everyone stay safe; I’ve been through these types of storms before. They’re no fun at all. We’ll have another bad one before winter is out up here on the Tundra. ;)
http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/full_loop.php
How many inches of global warming are they expecting?
Warm globally, cool locally. (the new eco-Leftist AGW mantra)
[... the big one bogs my computer down... :-) ... ]
How many inches of global warming are they expecting?
Well, I remember back in the 70s and 80s it was colder than it had been for the last 20 years, so it did warm up during that period of time. There were warmer winters and less "Silver Thaws" than there had been before.
But, now, it's turned, back to the colder winters, once again. It's related to us being in a Dalton Minimum-type of period (with the Sunspots) and how that affects the radiation from outer space in "cloud formation"...
That's what is causing this recent downturn and colder winter weather that we're having... and it's the cosmic radiation being able to reach the earth easier, from the solar winds being slower than normal. The cosmic radiation is the main factor in cloud formation and that's what causing the cooler weather recently.
Just out of curiosity, where did you get that BS?
I just talked with my daughter in Bartlesville OK. They are having a slight drizzle there with temps in the high 30’s. My son in Dallas reports a slight drizzle off and on, and warm temps—he’s not sure, but says it’s high 40’s or lo 50’s.
I hope so too. It would be nice to actually have snow again in the winter.
I just talked with my daughter in Bartlesville OK. They are having a slight drizzle there with temps in the high 30’s. My son in Dallas reports a slight drizzle off and on, and warm temps—he’s not sure, but says it’s high 40’s or lo 50’s.
I think that's quite outdated information. Now, yesterday it was up to 60 degrees in Tulsa, but today, it's icing up on everything, and Bartlesville always gets it worse than Tulsa.
I just checked the temperature in Bartlesville and it's 29 degrees according to one source that I have. And I just checked the historical information (from midnight, last night) in Bartlesville and the temperature has not been above freezing (except maybe by one degree at around noon today), and went down right after that.
If you want to see the latest and most detailed information... take a look at the link below.
A good link for detailed weather forecast information in this area, updated all the time (given by FReeper "T-Bird45")...
Thanks, I’ll check it out... :-)
Here’s something to check out Bartlesville... :-)
http://www.wunderground.com/US/OK/Bartlesville.html
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