Tulsa Ice Storm: One year later

Orien Landis looks at bare shelves at local grocery store during the 2007 ice storm.

By Kevin Genske

Last December Northeast Oklahoma was hit by one of the worst storms in state history. It wasn’t a tornado or a flood but instead an ice storm. The storm which left many areas covered in several inches of ice knocked out power to 640,000 residents making it one of the worst natural disasters in state history.

Oklahoma residents lived without power for days and even weeks until utility companies could remove all the downed trees and power lines. Without heat or power residents scrambled to find warm places to weather the storm. For Matt Spencer that place was the home a friend.

“I had an apartment on the other side of the Arkansas river, across from downtown. I lost power for a little more than a week. After the first two days I decided I needed to go stay somewhere else,” Spencer said.

Spencer wasn’t the only person looking for a place to stay. Hotels with power were booked solid almost immediately leaving residents to call family and friends hoping someone would have power.

“My family was living in Edmond and I wasn’t about to try and drive there in the ice so I started calling all my friends. My friend Orien didn’t have power but he had a wood furnace so I stayed with him and a couple of other people,” Spencer said.

Not only did the ice storm knock out power to thousands of residents and businesses it also led to a rush on grocery stores and gas stations. People were buying every perishable food item they could because they didn’t know how long the power would be out. Gas stations were running out of gasoline with people buying gas to run their generators.

“After I got to Orien’s house we decided we should go pick up some milk and bread. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life! The shelves were all bare. It was like something you saw in pictures from the great depression or from a war zone. It was really weird. Needless to say we didn’t get any milk or bread,” Spencer said.

Spencer said he spent a week with his friend in Bixby until the power in his apartment was back on. While he’s grateful that he had a warm place to stay he doesn’t want to experience anything like that again.

“It was horrible. I’ve never felt so powerless in my life, and I’m not just talking about not having power. I hope I never have to go through anything like ever again.