Ice Storm Unites Oklahomans

Oklahomans will remember 2007 for the great Centennial celebration of her statehood. This year will also be known for what Governor Brad Henry has called the worst ice storm in the state's history.

Ironically, both events testify to the spirit of rugged individualism and the willingness to help a neighbor during a crisis. That spirit is alive and actively working today.

Downed trees wreaked havoc across the state

Freezing rain struck most of the state on Saturday, December 8, and continued through the following Monday. The heavy coating of ice brought down trees and utility lines resulting in more than 600,000 residences and businesses statewide being without electric power.

A week later, more than 100,000 homes and businesses were still awaiting power restoration, despite the tireless work of utility crews and government workers from Oklahoma and surrounding states. More than half of the outages were in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area.

Twenty-three fatalities have been attributed to the storm. Virtually every Oklahoman knows at least one relative or friend who lost power, even if they were not personally impacted by outages.

Warmer weather has returned, and things are getting better, but the recovery process will continue for some time.

Being without electricity for six or seven hours is an inconvenience. Being without power for six or seven days, or longer, alters daily family life at a more fundamental level. Fortunately, the adversity brought on by the disaster has also brought an abundance of caring responses at a human, interpersonal level. This was true as well during the summer floods and other disasters that occurred earlier in the year in Oklahoma.

A tree limb pierced through a bedroom ceiling in Choctaw

The State of Oklahoma and other organizations such as the American Red Cross are hard at work carrying out their first responder duties.

HUD does not have an official role in the early stages of disaster recovery; however, we are maintaining contact with our community partners to determine if they have immediate, major needs that we might help them in communicating to the proper authorities.

HUD's partner organizations include housing authorities, subsidized apartments, the state and several municipal governments, and other HUD grantees.

Our goal is to help ensure that our local partners, and the citizens we serve, are fully aware of how to access the state's emergency response system. And, as individual citizens, many HUD employees are also joining with their fellow Oklahomans to do what they can to help those in need through individual acts of kindness. By doing so, we carry into our second century of statehood Oklahoma's legacy of pulling together during tough times.

For updates on the disaster recovery process, a listing of emergency shelters, and other important information, visit the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

Residents and business owners who have uninsured ice storm damage are urged to call the state's toll-free Oklahoma Damage Assessment Hotline at (866) 560-7584 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Oklahomans impacted by the ice storm who are seeking non-emergency disaster or health and human service information can dial 2-1-1, or the other numbers shown below, 24 hours a day:

Tulsa Area/Green Country, dial 2-1-1, or (918) 836-4357
OKC Metro/Central OK, dial 2-1-1, or (405) 286-4057
Southeastern OK, dial 2-1-1, or (580) 332-0558
Northeast OK, dial 2-1-1, or (918) 336-2255
Southwest OK, dial 2-1-1, or (580) 355-7575

Under the Federal Response Plan in Presidentially-Declared Disaster Areas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) offer initial recovery assistance.

For more information on HUD programs that are available in Presidentially-Declared Disaster Areas visit HUD's Disaster Recovery Assistance Webpage.