Thousands In Okla., Kansas Still In Dark

One Week After Ice Storm, More Than 91,000 Homes And Business Still Lack Power

(AP)  Power outages kept more than 91,000 homes and businesses in the dark early Tuesday, more than a week after an ice storm battered the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the emergency has outlasted the ability of many residents to pay for it.

Some depleted their funds stocking up before the storm on food that went bad when the power went out. Others used money to stay in a hotel, thinking electricity would be restored within a day or two.

"We've had people using generators who ran out of money for fuel to operate the generators," said Vince Hernandez, chairman of the American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma.

Hundreds of people have found hot meals and a place to sleep at a temporary shelter established at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma Gas & Electric, the state's largest electric utility, set up walk-up stations in nine cities for customers to report power failures. Officials have said power should be restored by late Wednesday or Thursday.

Margy Knight, who owns several rental and commercial properties in south Oklahoma City that are without power, said she was getting frustrated with the lack of progress.

"I'm trying real hard not to be tacky," Knight said. "I think they're doing the best they can, but they need more manpower."

Meanwhile, overnight temperatures over the past week have dipped into the teens (-10 to -7 Celsius).

"We've got eight days without lights," said 7-year-old Josue Velasquez, who came to one walk-up station with his mother, Rebeca Rascon. Josue said they "just sit on the couch and wait for the lights to come on" in their "very cold" south Oklahoma City home.

The state medical examiner's office said the ice storm contributed to at least 27 deaths: 16 in traffic accidents, eight in fires, two from carbon monoxide fumes and one from hypothermia.

In the state of Kansas, where six deaths were blamed on last week's storm, about 24,000 customers remained without power, and some rural areas might not have electricity restored for a week or more. The reason is another winter storm expected this week, said Larry Detwiler of the Kansas Electric Cooperatives.

"We all hope for everybody to be back on by Christmas," he said. "I'm not sure that's a realistic goal."

While the Plains states struggled to put power back on, a swath of the country from the Great Lakes to New England dug out from a weekend storm that dumped 18 inches of snow in some places.

School districts across the region canceled classes Monday. Snow blown by winds gusting to 35 mph cut visibility and made driving hazardous. At least eight traffic deaths were reported.

Associated Press writer John Milburn in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

[nsane4fab4]

To sgtRDS..Thank you! I live in OKC and want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the linemen from around the country who came to help. I, for one, put some perishables outside, however, my power was only out for three days. Some people in OKC still have no power. The temp is now in the 50''s and has been for a few days. To neoconism...well, how sad you must be.

[bthrasher102]

Good Idea, lets use people who aren''t trained to put up electrical lines using all those electrical trucks that I''m sure the national guard owns.

[killtheliars]

Why not call out the national guard? Oh yea, they are all in Iraq.

[lloydbest1]

These linemen (and women) are among the hardest working people we have left in a world of "labor saving" culture. I speak from the standpoint of one who was once a logger and a forest fire fighter. These guys work harder than I did....

[chrislan2]

My brother is a lineman for Pike Electric in Indiana. His crew left last Monday morning for Missouri and is now working in Kansas. Many crews are working hard all day long to get power restored to residents and sleep each night in a tent with wood heat and no running water. My brother''s crew put up 14 miles of poles yesterday and that restored power to only 21 houses. These crews are working very hard from sun up to dark to get power restored as quickly and safely as possible. The guys that I know on these crews do this with a glad heart, knowing that they are helping people. They are away from their families and don''t know if they''ll be home for Christmas. If you are in one of the areas affected and happen to see one of the electrical crews out working, I encourage you to take 30 seconds to say ''Thank you''. Kind words and encouragement mean more to these guys than you can know.

[traintroll]

I am very sorry for people who went thru hell in the ice storm. I am bothered by something tho; why did people not put their perishables outside? A home fridege operates at about 45 degrees so certainly in the ice food wouold have been ok. I realize it was too cold for some things but not for others.

[bthrasher102]

Power companies do have agreements allowing their line men to work for other companies in disasters. The problem is that they have to drive from several states away because storms usually effect a large area. Also, you''re not just talking about power lines that are down, in most places (especially in rural areas) the power polls have been snapped off.

[mediamomma]

neoconism - this has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the weather and the lack of manpower to get the power back on. When that happened years back here, all the power companies banded together as one big crew. I hope that the power is restored quickly. The temps are dropping. Nutsie11 has it right. People should be checking on their neighbors - especially the elderly. The death toll seems pretty high from that storm and by the sound of it, it''s going to rise. And it is no help that another storm is coming. Good luck to the midwest. My prayers are with you.

[sgtrds]

I lived in Oklahoma for a year and a half and went through one of these famous ice storms where we were without power for 10 days. The one thing I can say is that the line workers there must be among the best in the world considering how hard they worked day after day to get the power back on. They came from Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, etc. to do the job. Though considering Christmas is so close it must be difficult to get them to leave their families to travel to another state, even for the good money they make.

[antoniof123]

I dont understand why other Utility companies dont have standing agreements when disasters such as this occur that they dont come from all over the country to help out. In this weather, Heat and food is the primary need. And many are going without.

Posted by ov442 at 08:55 AM : Dec 18, 2007

It is called greed wonder who says let everyone stand on their own.

[ov442]

i''d say the lights were less of an issue than heat.
as for the food, couldnt they just keep it in a shed or garage or container outside? we do that sometimes with extra food that doesnt fit in our fridge.

I dont understand why other Utility companies dont have standing agreements when disasters such as this occur that they dont come from all over the country to help out. In this weather, Heat and food is the primary need. And many are going without.

[keithle1]

"..eight days without lights"?

They better get power restored before Xmas or parents will have strangled their kids by then.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS