Oklahoma News Report

Tourist attractions like the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore depend on state funding to operate. The museum draws thousands of visitors to the state. Tourists visiting the museum also spend lots of money shopping, eating and staying in hotels in the Claremore area.

Because of state funding cuts, the attractions like the Will Rogers Museum have a lot less money to pay their bills. It’s a dilemma that has the attractions wondering how to cope. Do they cut hours? Close some days? If they do, how will it affect the community that depends on the tourists they attract?

Heavy ice has downed powerlines over a area of the state. The most significant damage in in the western counties. Among the areas hardest hit, Chickasha and communities in Southwest Oklahoma.

This PSO crew is hoping to avert a loss of power to homes in Tulsa. The weight of the ice on the power lines has snapped the braces supporting the lines. The crews are replacing the braces to keep the lines up and power on.

Ice coating trees in the Tulsa area is thicker around than my index finger. It’s causing tree limbs to bend down into power lines. When tree limbs snap from the weight of the ice it they frequently pull down power lines as well.

If you see power lines that are down, do not go near them. Instead, call your power company to report the problem. Also call if power is out in your area. Crews will be working around the clock to restore power to areas that have been affected by the storm. PSO tells OETA the only time its crews will stop working is when conditions make it unsafe to continue.

POWER OUTAGES as of Noon Friday January 29th

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reports 179,134 homes and businesses are without electric service due to the storm, which includes the following.

PSO reports 69,716 customers are without power in:

Chickasha 11,782

Chouteau 378

Clinton 1,271

Duncan 5,182

Elk City 210

Grove 1,779

Hobart 6,046

Lawton 38,644

Okmulgee 623

Tipton 3,773

Tulsa 12

Vinita 10

Weatherford 5

The Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority reports 26,606 customers without power in:

Altus 9,759
Duncan 8,942
Eldorado 283
Granite 613
Manitou 209
Olustee 316
Lexington 845
Purcell 2,774

The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives reports 62,341 customers without power in:

Caddo Electric, Binger: 9,528

Cotton Electric, Walters: 14,101

Harmon Electric, Hollis: 3,300

Southwest Rural Electric, Tipton: 1,500

Kiwash Electric, Cordell: 2,000

Rural Electric, Lindsay: 7,500

Oklahoma Electric, Norman: 3,292

People’s Electric, Ada: 6,505

Canadian Valley Electric, Seminole: 11,458

Ozarks Electric, Stilwell/Fayetteville: 163

Northfork Electric, Sayre: 200

Cimarron Electric, Kingfisher: 50

East Central OK Electric, Okmulgee: 1,000

Lake Region Electric, Hulbert: 469

Verdigris Valley Electric, Collinsville: 754

Northeast OK Electric, Vinita: 429

Central Rural Electric, Stillwater: 92

Cookson Hills Electric, Stigler/Sallisaw: 0

Kiamichi Electric, Wilburton: 0

OG&E reports 20,471 customers (including 1,987 in Holdenville, 1,915 in Norman and 1,881 in Ada) are without service.

Additionally, today, OG&E will open customer walk-up centers in Ada, Seminole and Pauls Valley, giving customers affected by the ice storm a place to report their power outage and learn about the power restoration process directly from employees of OG&E.

Once the walk-up centers are established, today around noon, they will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for as long as they needed.

Ada: Apple Market, 220 E. 13th Street
Seminole: Homeland Store, 1701 N. Milt Phillips Ave.
Pauls Valley: Homeland Store, 505 S. Chickasaw Avenue

OG&E communities south and east of the Oklahoma City metro area were hardest-hit by the ice storm, causing outages for as many as 25,000 customers overnight Thursday into Friday. Power lines and tree limbs are heavily laden with ice over a wide area, including metro OKC, and OG&E is operating under its emergency storm plan with all of its resources at work and assistance from out-of-state crews.