Ice Storms in Tulsa

How to Deal: Oklahoma Disaster

By: Ty Page

State-wide weather emergency alerts could not prepare residents of Oklahoma for the ice storm claimed as a natural disaster during the month of December last year, which caused many to lose power in their homes and work. The storm was one to be reckoned with along with the extreme amounts of damage that took place.

Many were faced with making the decision to cope with the power outage while staying at home or seek shelter elsewhere depending on their family and financial situations.

Not only were Oklahoma residents living in rural areas faced with this problem, many bigger city dwellers were forced to deal without electricity and power as well.

“It definitely brought our family closer together because during this time, we were all each other had,” Keith Blalock stated.

Blalock looked back at the situation and explained the tough times his family faced, but tried to point out the positive aspects of the experience. His family consists of his wife and three children who all decided to remain in their home.

The Blalocks lost power for a duration of five days, which was relatively mild compared to other families.

“We decided to keep a fire going in our fireplace and camp out in the living room together,” Blalock said.

As for food, Blalock said they ate most of their meals out of the home since they could not use their kitchen. They also took showers at a relative’s house who maintained power through a generator.

Not all people had the choice of remaining in their homes during this troubling storm.

“All I could remember was a sea of white outside and the trees looked fake with ice covering every inch of them,” Carrie Smith explained.

Smith, a single resident in Tulsa, lived by herself in a home in Tulsa with no family.

When the storm happened, she decided there was no way she could stay at her house by herself.

“I made the decision to stay at a hotel for two weeks with a friend,” Smith said, “I felt like there was no way I would survive this on my own, emotionally or physically.”

Smith was not alone with these feelings. Many Oklahoma residents felt great amounts of stress during and after the ice storm.

After the ice melted and most people regained electricity in their homes, there was still a huge amount of damage to be dealt with.

“I decided to help out my local neighborhood by clearing out branches from driveways and helping elder residents with damage to their homes,” Smith said.

Smith along with many other Tulsa residents participated in similar activities to help reclaim a normal life subsequent to the storm.

“The storm was destructive no doubt, but I think it showed how we Oklahoma residents could pull together and weather such a disaster,” Blalock said.

All in all, most Oklahoma residents can look back at the ice storm in the winter of 2007 and be thankful the situation is over. As for similar events in the future, residents seem to have a better grasp at how to handle such a devastating circumstance.