Workers head home as focus shifts to meters

Out-of-state power crews began leaving Tulsa on Wednesday as the power outage number dropped to 1,000 in the metro area.

Another 10,000 customers in Tulsa are suspected to have meter weatherhead damage and can't have their service restored until repairs are made by an electrician.

"We have plenty of resources to address what's left," said Preston Kissman, American Electric Power-Public Service Company of Oklahoma vice president of distribution.

The storm, which caused 246,000 outages at peak, has cost the company "certainly millions of dollars per day" in extra manpower, AEP-PSO spokesman Stan Whiteford said, adding that estimates have not yet been compiled.

It has not been decided whether a rate increase will be necessary to help pay for the extra expenses, he said.

"That decision likely won't be made for some time, and, if that is the route that is taken, it would have to go through the Oklahoma Corporation Commission," Whiteford said.

Mayor Kathy Taylor met with thousands of line workers and tree cutters for breakfast Wednesday at the Tulsa County fairgrounds staging area before many were released.

Taylor presented each of the utility workers with a flier featuring a collage of newspaper clippings highlighting their restoration efforts.

By Thursday, their ranks should be down to several hundred who will stay on through Monday, Kissman

Operation Power Up!: AEP-PSO is working closely with the city through Operation Power Up! to identify damaged meter weatherheads and schedule them for repair.

For those with weatherhead problems, licensed electricians must make repairs before the company can return service.

Taylor has said she wants power restored to everyone by Christmas.

The city launched a public assistance program this week to help residents who can't afford the necessary meter repairs.

A hot line -- (866) 789-8898 -- that was set up for the program had 2,400 calls Tuesday, which was its first day of operation, and an additional 2,200 Wednesday. The line is answered from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Other outage numbers: Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. is still reporting 9,393 outages, with the vast majority in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

The Oklahoma Association of Rural Cooperatives is reporting slightly more than 3,000 customers still without power, mostly from Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative, which is based in Collinsville.

Clearing streets: Tulsa's street crews are wrapping up efforts to clear city streets of tree debris.

Now they are faced with developing a plan to collect all of the broken limbs that line people's curbsides, said Dan Crossland, the Public Works Department's deputy director of public facilities.

City officials hope to be able to hire a national disaster debris removal firm with the financial assistance expected from the president's disaster declaration.

"By ourselves, it would take months to accomplish," Crossland said. "What we are asking is that people not throw tree limbs into the streets to try to get us to pick them up faster. That will only slow us down."

The American Red Cross closed its last shelter Wednesday. In response to the blackout, the organization had opened 34 shelters, where 1,800 people registered to spend the night.

Fire fatalities: The number of deaths statewide attributed to the ice storm reached 28 Wednesday, when Sharon Corbitt, a lawyer, died in a hospital from injuries she suffered in a fire last week.

Corbitt's husband, James C. Lang, also a lawyer, died in the blaze that spread from their house's fireplace.

In Broken Arrow, fire officials identified on Wednesday a man whose body was found inside his burning home Dec. 13 as Tim Holman, 51.

Holman, a retired IRS agent, had multiple sclerosis and lived alone in the home in the 2300 block of West Commercial Court. His death was ruled accidental due to an alternative heating source because the house was without power, firefighters said.

Other weather-related fire victims include Ralph Ward, 68, who died Dec. 12 in a fire at the Saddle Brook Apartments, 1400 E. 62nd Place; and Susie Robinson, who died Dec. 14 after being found in a burning house near 49th Street and Boston Avenue.

Authorities have yet to release the name of a woman who died Dec. 10 from smoke inhalation in a house fire near 800 S. Trenton Ave.

Brian Barber 581-8322
brian.barber@tulsaworld.com