Community cleanup efforts continued Sunday, one week after many Tulsans lost power from ice storms, in a volunteer effort dubbed “Operation Power Up.”

Mayor Kathy Taylor, who led the initiative, offered words of encouragement to the volunteers before they went out to help Tulsa Fire Department personnel check homes for power problems.

“Because the roads are clear, people think we’re out of danger,” Taylor said. “But houses are in freezing temperatures without power.”

The call to serve: Team Relief started in 2005 at Guts Church, 9120 E. Broken Arrow Expressway in Tulsa, as a way to help Hurricane Katrina relief along the Gulf Coast, said Nina Bedell, 28, of Tulsa, a Team Relief leader.

Little did they know that such help would be needed close to home, she said.

“This gave us an opportunity to work locally,” Bedell said. “Every house we’ve gone to has been so grateful.

It’s a tragedy for people, but an opportunity for us to reach out as a church and a community of volunteers.”

Responding remotely: Service International has been to Sri Lanka, the Gulf Coast and just returned from the California wildfires — as has its director, Trey Perry of St. Louis.

In preparation for the day’s volunteer work, the relief organization was checking fuel on pull saws and chain saws from its trailer, which

“The more you give, the more you truly receive,” Perry said. “Our heart and desire is to get to homeowners. Someone will come in and charge double, triple to do yard work, but volunteers are so pumped and jacked up to do it. It’s very rewarding.”

Safety first, service second: Bill Scheer is known as “Pastor Bill” to his Guts Church congregation. After leading them in an opening prayer before sendoff, he reminds everyone they are already heroes, so “don’t try to be one.”

“We pray that you provide a way when there is no way,” Scheer said. “We pray that we make an impact and a difference today.”

His last line received a loud “amen” from the group dressed in overalls and heavy gloves for the task ahead. “We pray that every house in Tulsa will have power by Christmas Eve.”

Lost power, but not forgotten: Tulsa Fire Department District Chief Scott Clark said the efforts may seem late for these volunteer groups. However, it is difficult to gauge how many are still without power when some residents have left town.

“As PSO (Public Service Company of Oklahoma) began to get the grids up, I don’t think they realized how many were affected,” Clark said.

“We’re trying to expedite the process.”

The volunteers will assist off-duty fire personnel in finding disconnected home electric meters.

“It’s a great thing to work with all the entities and volunteers in the city,” Clark said.

“It’s a huge job.”

Energized volunteers, energized conductors: The emphasis was again placed on safety as groups of volunteers arrived at firehouses. American Electric Power-Ohio safety coordinator Payton Wilson began listing potential “energized conductors” to avoid. In addition to metal fences, buildings and vehicles, even generators connected improperly can backfeed power lines, making them dangerous to touch.

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get the power on, we don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Wilson said.

Many of his warnings about touching live wires end in “you’re dead,” as in: “If there’s a power line on that fence, you touch the fence, you touch the ground, you’re dead.”

“It can lie energized on the ground for days and days,” he said. “Be very cautious; it’s very hazardous.”

Helping hands: While the volunteers began taking to the streets to check wires, many residents were cleaning yards for neighbors.

Lorrie Thompson, 39, of Tulsa, lives near 67th East Avenue and Fourth Place, where many older trees fell on older homes with older residents.

“It was Sunday at halftime when we were watching the game and the entire neighborhood went dark,” Thompson recalls. “A lot of neighbors have been helping others . . .

The only concern I have in central Tulsa is primarily seniors, and it’s the last area to have power restored.”

Caring for the community: Kim Blankenship, 25, of Tulsa, said she used to have no idea what a “weatherhead,” which connects power lines to homes, was. After checking numerous homes with other volunteers to see whether they were connected, she’ll likely never forget.

However, with many downed trees surrounding the many checked homes, she said she wishes she could stay in the area and do more.

“I wish I could get in there and make the neighborhood beautiful again,” she said.

Althea Peterson 581-8361
althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com