Twelve people have been killed in weather-related accidents since Saturday and power has been lost to about 405,000 homes and businesses as a result of the ice storm, authorities said today.
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The Oklahoma Emergency Management Department is reporting 12 traffic deaths since Saturday night when the first wave of icy conditions struck the state.
Four people were killed on Interstate 40 near Okemah about 7 p.m. Sunday, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. Troopers were attempting to clear off two accidents on I-40 at the North Canadian River bridge west of Okemah when several more cars lost control on the icy roads and crashed into those vehicles, patrol Capt. Chris West said.
A series of accidents on the bridge resulted in a 10-vehicle pileup, which was capped by a tractor-trailer that caused an explosion and large fire when it slammed into the other vehicles, West said.
Firefighters from several nearby communities were called to assist in putting out the blaze and all westbound traffic was diverted to State Highway 48 at mile marker 217.
Two separate accidents in Oklahoma County killed two, said Michelann Ooten, state Emergency Management Department spokeswoman.
A Canadian County crash killed one.
Two died in separate accidents in Beckham County.
A Tillman County crash killed one and two died in separate Tulsa County crashes.
The identities of those killed were not immediately available.
Troopers have worked more than 150 injury and noninjury accidents since Saturday night.
The Oklahoma Transportation Department are plowing and treating roadways. Officials are asking motorists to slow down and stay at least 200 feet behind vehicles.
Oklahoma City police reported six injury accidents from 6 p.m. Sunday to 9 a.m. today.
Sgt. Gary Knight said the number of accidents has been low considering the weather conditions. Police worked 22 noninjury accidents from 6 p.m. Sunday to 7 a.m.today. Knight said police are no longer working noninjury accidents. They are asking motorists to exchange information and move on unless someone is injured.
Outages
As many as 157,000 Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. customers in Oklahoma City are without power, Ooten said. An additional 12,000 OG&E customers across the state are also without power.
More than 157,000 American Electric Power-Public Service Co. of Oklahoma customers in Tulsa are without power and an additional 22,000 area customers are also without electricity.
The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives is reporting about 55,000 rural electric customers are without power. Heaviest outages are in the northeast in an area along the I-44 corridor.
An additional 3,300 customers of municipally operated companies are also without power.
Shelters
The American Red Cross has opened shelters in:
Clearing roads
Oklahoma City maintenance crews are working 12-hour shifts to clear streets.
Salt trucks will concentrate on snow routes, which can be viewed at www.okc.gov
The city will have 75 to 100 workers clearing roads 24 hours a day until conditions improve. Crews work 12-hour shifts.
At least 25 salt trucks will be clearing city streets at all times. Nine of the trucks are equipped with snow plows.
The city had 8,000 tons of salt on hand before the bad weather started. As of this afternoon, 6,000 tons were left and more is on order. Crews can spread about 1,500 tons of salt per day.
Melting the ice on the roads is just one concern city crews are dealing with.
City spokeswoman Kristy Yager said downed trees are also a problem across the city. Public works, parks and utilities crews are working to clear hundreds of tree limbs blocking city streets, concentrating on snow routes first, she said.
Workers are also clearing limbs around storm drains. Yager said it is important to keep storm drains clear so that any ice that does melt gets out of the roadway before it re-freezes.
About 70 traffic signals are out across the city because of power outages.
Yager said city trash pickup is continuing on schedule.
Trees fallingMike Dunn, 59, said he heard at least three tree limbs crack and crash to the ground this morning while walking his two German Shepherds in the Gatewood neighborhood.
“It was so loud, like a firecracker,” Dunn said. “Turns out, one of those things was mine.”
During the 10-minute dog walk, a large tree in his front yard had split in two and fallen across his driveway.
“Looks like a banana peel,” Dunn said of the split tree trunk.
Other fallen trees are blocking neighborhood and arterial streets across the city.
Deanna Benson, 33, said she watched as an ice-coated tree collapsed into the westbound lanes of NW 23 near Hudson Avenue earlier today. Motorists were driving on the sidewalk to avoid the fallen tree.
As many of her neighbors, Benson is without power. She said she “figured I should at least get out and watch all this. Ain’t nothing else to do.”
Benson was bundled up in a purple parka and said she had been walking around the neighborhood most of the morning to see how folks were dealing with the icy mess.
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You know, when you comment on your blogs, please remember there are families behind every story. I had a precious friend killed in the Okema accident last night and it hurts to see thoughtless comments made. Please try to consider the feelings of the remaining family members before you add your comments. My friend was a wonderful young lady, a soldier for her country, a wife to her wonderful husband, a daughter to her parents, a sister to her brother, a friend to many, and a Children's Director for ages 5-12. Many of us understand that accidents happen. But truckers have hearts. They work hard to support their families and I'm sure if that one is still alive, he will never be the same, nor will he ever breathe another breath that won't be filled with regret. My friend lived life and loved her family and friends, and no matter where she would have been last night, God knew every detail and never left her side. Please, use sensitivity in your comments to prevent more unnecessary tears for all involved in these tragedies.
Cletus, I don't know who you are trying to impress. You are not old enough to have ever worked at Tinker. LOL!! You guys are all funny this morning. Margaret, I agree with you 100%. Julie you too. :)
That crash west of Okemah was horrible. The tractor trailer was going too fast and slammed into the other cars causing an explosion. If the truckers know they will have so much trouble stopping, why don't they slow down?
Okay, driving isn't that bad. The problem is the drivers, not the road conditions. I saw 4 SUV's off in ditched. It's an over confidence that gets you in trouble. SUV doesn't mean suitable for ice. All of the main thourougfares are fine. Getting out of the neighborhoods is the hardest part. But once you hit any kind of main street, it is fine. The problem is that people in Oklahoma don't know how to drive in this type of weather condition. 60 miles per hour is too fast.
Hey nate, pull your head out, I own several business's and don't want my employees coming in and jeopardizing their safety and my work vehicles Grow up
wah, wah , wah. suck it up. go to work. especially in the metro, it's not that bad. unless you mow lawns for a living there is no reason not to go in. all you have to do is wake up 10 minutes earlier than normal.
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P.S. I agree Margaret. A lot of tractor trailers cause problems. They are fully aware of the limitations of their vehicles. They just ignore them.