Claremore Daily Progress

Top Stories

Related Photos

  • The streets of downtown Claremore (above) made for tricky driving this morning, after winter storms left nearly half an inch of ice in their wake; Rogers County woman Brenda Hallman (right) scrapes ice off her windshield before braving the roads this morning. Tom Fink - Progress Photo

    Icy streets 2010
January 29, 2010

<b>ICED - </b> Rogers County residents dealing with winter storm

Friday, January 29, 2010 — Staff and wire reports



Claremore residents were “very lucky,” according to City of Claremore Director of Utilities Tim Miller, faring better than some communities in terms of power outages.

“As of 8:30 this morning, we’d received no calls for help due to power outages,” Miller said. “There were a few times between 2 and 5 a.m. where it was a little ‘touch and go’ with the freezing rains, but we were lucky — it didn’t get cold enough for ice accumulations to be a major enough problem to cause power lines to start going down.

“Really, we were probably only three or four degrees away from there being a major problem (with power outages) due to the weather,” he said. “I’d heard that there were more than 100,000 power outages across the state — including the neighboring community of Owasso — so we got very fortunate.”

Despite Claremore Lake observers reporting accumulations of half an inch of ice, Claremore Police said they had received no weather-related traffic incidents as of early this morning.

Rogers County schools, including Claremore and Rogers State University, cancelled classes on Friday and several evening events — including the Claremore Chamber Gridiron and Central Upper Elementary Carnival — were rescheduled for a later date.

Across the state, other communities weren’t nearly so fortunate, as the storm toppled power lines, closed major highways and buried parts of the southern Plains in heavy ice and snow, leaving tens of thousands of people in the dark — possibly for several more days.

Winter storm warnings were in effect from New Mexico to North Carolina, and Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state of emergency.

The storm threatened to dump up to a foot of snow across the region after leaving 13 inches in the northern Texas Panhandle, where nearly all of Interstate 40 from the Texas-Oklahoma line to New Mexico was closed.

Heavy ice brought down electrical lines and trees limbs, leaving nearly 142,000 homes and businesses in Oklahoma without power Friday, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

“In some places, as far you can see there are hundreds of utility poles on the ground,” said Andrea Chancellor, spokeswoman for Public Service Co. of Oklahoma.

She said it could be five days before electricity is restored to all customers.

More than two dozen flights were canceled Friday morning at Oklahoma City’s main airport. The snow, sleet and freezing rain were expected to crawl east through Friday. In Arkansas, as much as a foot of snow could fall near the Missouri border, northern parts of central Tennessee could see up to 8 inches and western North Carolina could get hit with a foot of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

More snow also was expected in Texas and Oklahoma, where dozens of shelters were opened for those who needed a warm place to stay, including First United Methodist Church in Hobart, about 120 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. Pastor Kyle Clark said downed trees and utility poles littered the slick roadways and most of the town of about 4,000 residents had no electricity.

“We’ve got gas heat and we are illuminating the place with candles,” Clark said late Thursday.

Farther southwest in Altus, home to about 7,000 residences and businesses, power was out except at the hospital and other emergency operations with generators, said emergency management director Lloyd Colston.

More than two dozen flights were canceled Friday morning at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City following the cancellation of more than 100 flights Thursday due to concerns about ice buildup on planes, according to the airport’s Web site. Flights were also canceled Thursday in Tulsa and in Texas out of Lubbock, Amarillo and Wichita Falls, officials said.

The Texas Department of Transportation closed I-40 east and west of Amarillo on Friday and a few other major roadways.

Downed power lines and icy, dangerous road conditions also temporarily closed a 50-mile stretch of I-44 southwest of Oklahoma City and parts of I-40 in far western Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico on Thursday.

Text Only
Top Stories
  • BARGASweb.jpg NAIA WORLD SERIES: RSU upsets No. 1 LSU-Shreveport

    The ninth-seeded Rogers State baseball team choreographed its second straight come-from-behind victory at the Avista-NAIA World Series with a 2-1 upset over top ranked and top seeded LSU-Shreveport on Saturday evening at Harris Field on the campus of Lewis-Clark State.
    The Diamond Cats snapped the Pilots 16-game winning streak and handed them just their fifth loss of the season. It’s the first time in program history the Cats have topped the No.1 team in the country.

    May 27, 2012 1 Photo

  • commissioners-02web.jpg Rogers County candidates face off

    Rogers County candidates faced tough questions Thursday during a debate at Rogers State University.

    May 27, 2012 2 Photos

  • KidsCamp-iconweb.jpg Send a Kid to Camp fundraiser kicks off

    Forty Rogers County children will have the opportunity to attend the Heart O’Hills Salvation Army Camp in Tahlequah — if generous Progress readers can raise the needed funds.

    May 26, 2012 1 Photo

  • SpecOlympic-family01web.jpg Copelands get state Special Olympics honor

    Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer presented the 2012 family of the year award to the Copeland family at the opening ceremonies of the Oklahoma Special Olympic Games May 9 in Stillwater.

    May 26, 2012 1 Photo

  • Memorial Day event to mark bridge collapse

    The Oklahoma Department of Transportation says a Memorial Day event will mark the 10-year anniversary of the collapse of the Interstate 40 bridge into the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls.

    May 26, 2012

  • Eagle Academic All-Stater

    Sequoyah High School senior Cadence Wong was named as part of Oklahoma’s Academic All State Class of 2012.

    May 25, 2012

  • TSCRA Rangers deliver reward money to sheriff’s department

    Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton recently received reward money from agents with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, which will soon be distributed to tipsters in a case involving the bow and arrow deaths of several livestock.

    May 25, 2012

  • GRDA is bringing power into the future

    The Claremore Chamber of Commerce hosted Dan Sullivan as the guest speaker during the monthly luncheon Thursday at Rogers State University Centennial Center.

    May 25, 2012

  • FEC postpones Mullin advisory opinion ruling

    The Federal Election Commission requested an extension today to review 2nd District Congressional Candidate Markwayne Mullin’s request for an exception to federal electioneering laws.

     

    May 24, 2012

  • Special session looms as House rejects $6.8B budget

    The Oklahoma House failed Thursday to pass a $6.8 billion general appropriations bill to fund state government, setting up the possibility of lawmakers returning for a special session.

    May 24, 2012