Volume 9 , Issue 50

Icy Weather In Oklahoma

"Good morning (December 10, 2007)! About two weeks ago all the smiling faces on local TV stations began telling us how they were getting prepared for the winter storms that might come our way, and they were optimistic that there would be fewer power outages this year (among other things) because they were 'ready for anything mother nature could throw our way'. WRONG! It hit yesterday and is getting worse in the OKC area.

WOW! A vehicle just slid into the Mr. Convenience building but there are no injuries. Mr. Convenience is a gas station, grocery store, etc. that's been in business in Perry for about 25-30 years on Fir Avenue just east of Charle's Machine Works (the DitchWitch plant).

We've had "thunder-sleet" (lightning & thunder during a sleet storm), followed by freezing rain, and I just heard on my 'police' scanner that some power lines are beginning to fall in Stillwater (25 miles from here) because of the weight of the ice. OKC area has over 100,000 customers without power, and more than twice that many from southwest Oklahoma in a band stretching towards the northeast part of the state. More expected. Jones, Oklahoma has lost their high school. It began burning (from unknown causes) about 6 hours ago and is expected to continue burning for at least 4 more hours because power has been off in that town since yesterday, and since the pumps cannot operate, there's no water from the fireplugs. They're having to truck water in to pour into a holding-tank and pump from that.

Many local schools are closed today and probably tomorrow because of bad roads and the lack of electricity (mine is just fine so far). We're expecting it to warm back up into the 40's by Wednesday.

I'm very thankful for my living-room wood-stove (it's similar to the old "Warm-Morning" stoves of yesteryear). It is one of the many antiques that I've accumulated over the years. I use a small fan pointed at it to distribute the heat throughout this room and the adjoining kitchen. I wish the church next door had not removed my 'brush-pile' that I was saving for kindling. They found it when they dismantled and hauled off the storage building that separated our two properties. This is the second time they've hauled off my pile of kindling (to clean up the area). I now keep one inside my privacy fence instead of next to my carport.

They say this ice storm is the worst in our history and this makes a new record for the most disasters in a year for Oklahoma! I'm not too sure that we want to break this record. I also saw on the news last night that several other states have sent in electric crews to aid in the restoration of electricity to the folks who have none. This includes Louisiana who stated that this was partial payback for our aid in the "Katrina" disaster. We're presently in a warming trend but are expecting snow this coming weekend. We hope that it's only a few inches. I guess that's all to report for now. Stay warm." -- Roy
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