Northwest Oklahoma residents find hope, humor in blizzard

Parks said they waited seven hours for help that never came. Meanwhile, they talked with the guys back at the fire station over the radio and advised them when the storm was waning.

After dark, they walked a few blocks back to the station, leaving their trucks submerged in snow.

“We were just kind of in shock because we never saw anything like this ever,” Parks said. “We caught quite a bit of crap from our fellow firefighters, asking where we had been and what took us so long.”

The bride

As the first snowflakes began falling Monday in Alva, Becky Burke was in a race with the storm to make it home.

She had been in Tulsa making final preparations for her wedding less than two weeks away and being fitted for her dress.

“I didn't really see anything until I got to Enid, then it started getting dark and windy,” she said. “When I got on the west side of Enid, I didn't see anyone while driving. It was creepy. I didn't know if I was driving into something really bad.”

Burke beat the storm home in time to get snowed in with her fiance, Brenen. The two rode out the storm with on-again-off-again electricity.

The 17 inches of snow hampered their wedding preparations.

“A lot of stuff is coming in the mail because we are so far away from civilization in Alva,” Burke said.

“It's been super stressful just because we are waiting on RSVPs and our wedding shoes and other little last-minute things. But I guess in the end, I'll be able to look back at everything and laugh — it's just snow after all.”