By Conrad Dudderar
Senior Staff Writer
A state of emergency was proclaimed in Canadian County in the wake of a devastating ice storm that left hundreds of thousands without power and caused significant tree damage across much of the area.
Canadian County Commissioners, at their Monday morning meeting in El Reno, approved a disaster emergency proclamation for Canadian County.
“Immediate attention is required to protect public health, reduce further damage, ensure public safety, and render emergency relief,” according to the proclamation.
The Oct. 26th ice storm in Canadian County caused “no known fatalities and an unknown specific amount of injuries, with considerable damage to public and private properties,” the document reads.
Canadian County Commissioners “do find that the aforementioned conditions constitute a threat to the safety and welfare of Canadian County and create an emergency disaster situation” under the Oklahoma Emergency Management Act of 2003.
District 2 Commissioner David Anderson made the motion to “declare emergency conditions” in this county due to the winter storm.
“I’m glad to see power back on where it is,” Anderson said.
The emergency declaration allows Canadian County and its municipalities to seek reimbursement for “storm mitigation” through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, County Commission Chairman Marc Hader said.
Hader believes Canadian County was among the “hardest hit” counties due to storm damage and electrical outages.
“But, as bad as this was, it’s not as bad as what we saw in 2015,” he said.
Power was still out Monday at Hader’s District 1 shop, although he had a generator running his office.
Canadian County Commissioners’ Monday disaster declaration was authorized by previous action of Gov.
Kevin Stitt, who had declared a state of emergency for 47 of the state’s 77 counties because of severe weather.
The governor’s executive order temporarily suspended requirements for size and weights permits of oversized vehicles transporting materials and supplies used for emergency relief and power restoration.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
At one point late last week, more than 300,000 Oklahoma homes and businesses were without power.
On Oct. 27, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission reported about 313,387 outages statewide – with 244,801 in Canadian County.
By 5 p.m. Nov. 1, the state corporation commission reported that outages statewide had dropped to 162,360 – with 100,041 in Canadian County.
OG&E advised some Canadian County residents they could expect to be without power until late this week as crews work long hours to restore electricity.
“For our customers in the OKC metro area, we are on pace to restore the vast majority of power on or before Tuesday, November 3,” according to an email to OG&E customers. “The remaining power will be restored between Wednesday, November 4, and Friday, November 6.”
The company Tuesday morning updated the list of customers affected – including 1,923 in El Reno, 1,536 in Mustang, 506 in Piedmont, and 1,192 in Yukon.
“This storm caused the largest number of outages in company history,” according to OG&E’s website.
Several thousand restoration personnel have been working in the fields around-the-clock, with crew members working 16 hours per day with a mandatory eight-hour rest period.
REPORT DAMAGE
In their action Monday to officially declare Canadian County a “disaster area”, county commissioners directed implementation of the Canadian County Emergency Operations Plan.
Canadian County Emergency Management Director Andrew Skidmore on Monday provided a situation update after the state of emergency proclamation was approved.
Skidmore shared that the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management is asking residents impacted by the recent storms to report physical damages to their homes or businesses at damage.ok.gov.
Reporting damage helps local and state emergency managers better coordinate response and recovery efforts. Residents can report damage to homes, businesses or agriculture through an online survey.
SHELTERS, WARMING STATIONS OPEN
The American Red Cross had opened nine shelters and warming stations, Skidmore reported Monday.
“Thirty-three people stayed in shelters Sunday night,” he said.
One of the American Red Cross-supported overnight shelters is at the El Reno Senior Citizens Center, 401 S Grand. A Red Cross-supported warming center is open at the Concho Shelter, 200 S Black Kettle in Concho.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief chainsaw teams are helping remove tree limbs from entrance points and roofs in Canadian, Caddo and Grady counties. Request assistance at www.okdisasterhelp.org
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Department of Health on Monday said 132 storm-related injuries have been reported by area hospitals. Nearly half were due to falls.
