McAlester Suffers From Ice, Outages: Thousands Still Lack Power

By Manny Gamallo, Tulsa World, Okla.

Jan. 16–MCALESTER — An icy stranglehold on the McAlester area continued into its third day Monday as most residents tried to cope without electricity amid a coating of ice up to 2 inches thick.

About 90 percent of the city’s 18,000 residents have been without electricity since Saturday. Local officials said it might be days before power is restored to all.

The situation was the same for many of the other towns and rural areas throughout Pittsburg County.

Freezing rain during the weekend coated trees and power lines with 1 to 2 inches of ice, causing branches to snap, trees to topple, and electrical lines to tear loose from their moorings or poles.

Many electrical poles were down across McAlester, and others were askew from the weight of sagging, ice-coated lines that in many cases swayed just above the pavement.

Downed trees and power lines made some streets impassable.

City Manager Bart Van Nieuwenhuise imposed a curfew of midnight through 6 a.m. for city residents and area motorists.

Van Nieuwenhuise said he ordered the curfew as a precaution because of the number of downed lines and the fact that they might not be visible at night on the streets.

Ward 1 Councilor Greg Rock said the ice damage to trees and power lines was staggering and gave McAlester the appearance of a war zone.

Stan Whiteford, a spokesman for American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma, said: “The city of McAlester is in terrible shape. The deeper you get into these harder-hit areas, we could be facing some longer recovery times.”

Federal Emergency Management Agency trucks were hauling generators to the city Monday to help municipal and county crews in their efforts to clear the thousands of downed trees and limbs scattered about the city.

Although most streets were clear of ice, traffic was minimal across the city Monday, because residents had nowhere to go and probably little fuel in their automobiles.

Without electricity, nearly all of the city’s convenience stores were shut down, and with that went the gasoline pumps.

Food stores also were closed because of the outage, and even the ones that did open were stripped bare in no time by shoppers.

Phone service was not disrupted, officials said, nor was water and sewer service.

The Police and Fire departments at City Hall, operating on generator power, were busy fielding calls from across the area.

McAlester firefighters responded to more than 100 calls throughout the weekend — more than 10 times their normal count, according to Fire Chief Harold Stewart.

Many of the blazes were electrical, starting when ice-laden power lines tore loose from homes, he said.

Police Chief Jim Lyles said the cold and ice kept crime to a minimum, which meant more officers were free to aid residents in weather-related emergencies.

McAlester’s hospital was full by the weekend, forcing officials to divert patients to Ada or Holdenville, they said.

First Baptist Church, across the street from City Hall, opened a shelter staffed with volunteers Friday night.

Other shelters were opened at the United Methodist Church and the J.I. Stipe Community Center.

Most residents rode out the difficulties in their homes, many of which have fireplaces or gas heat. Still others had portable generators.

However, other residents, many aged or infirm, sought refuge at the shelters or with friends and relatives.

About a dozen older people who had been living at the 11-story Aldridge Building downtown were forced to leave Friday and Saturday. They are in First Baptist Church’s shelter.

“It was pure hell,” said Dorothy Toth about conditions at the Aldridge, which has 66 apartments for the elderly.

With elevators out of commission, she said, tenants had to be helped by firefighters down many flights of stairs.

Toth, who uses a wheelchair, praised the shelter’s volunteers for feeding them all and helping them feel comfortable.

High water and downed lines led to the closing of Oklahoma 63 and 31 and U.S. 69 through Pittsburg County.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Tulsa World, Okla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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