Tulsa power outage: City plans, PSO 7/24/2013, 10:30 am statement

Quite a storm last night, wasn't it? We lost a few limbs, but nothing major. The '06 microburst and '07 ice storm took our most vulnerable trees. More nasty weather may be on its way Thursday night after sunset.

The grappler trucks are coming for your yard debris. The City of Tulsa will make one pass around the city beginning on Monday, July 29, 2013, to pick up any curbside branches and limbs. They've asked you to bundle your branches to four-feet lengths if you're able.

A special curbside debris removal operation will begin Monday, July 29, beginning at 8 a.m. and continuing to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Crews will make one pass throughout the city to gather residential tree debris from last night's storm, if it is placed at the curb.

If able, residents should cut tree debris into 4-foot or smaller sections, and place those bundles at the curb for crews to collect. This may speed the process of collection across the city.

If unable, residents must drag limbs to the curb for pickup.

The regular schedule for the collection of bagged greenwaste will be interrupted during this operation, and will only resume once crews have made a full sweep through the entire city.

Crews will use both City of Tulsa greenwaste trucks and grappler trucks to pick up debris. Crews will only pick up debris set at the curb, near the street, where it is easily accessible. Tree debris should not be mixed with other kinds of debris. If there is housing, roofing or structural debris of any kind mixed in, the greenwaste will not be picked up.

Residents are asked to keep parked cars away from debris stacked near the curbs so that grappler trucks can access the debris easily.

The operation will begin on the outer perimeters of the city, working into the center where the storm damage was heaviest. This will allow residents in those areas more time to get greenwaste debris to the curb. Once crews begin working, they will assess the situation and announce an anticipated timeline for pickup as they move inward.

Household refuse and recycling collection will continue as normal.

Tulsans can also take tree and limb debris to the City's greenwaste processing site, 10401 E. 56th St. North, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at no charge.

Tulsa police officers and firefighters were kept busy from about 11:30 p.m. until after daylight responding to calls related to storms that swept through the Tulsa metropolitan area Tuesday night.

Damage assessment continues this morning even as crews have begun recovery operations.

Crews from the Streets & Stormwater department were called in and began working at 1:30 a.m. to clear tree limbs and other debris from arterial streets. Those crews will continue to clear arterials, then clear lanes of residential streets, then to haul debris away.

Power was out to 100,000 or more customers after the storm and power was lost at many public facilities as well. Traffic engineering crews began at 5 a.m. today placing temporary stop signs at intersections throughout Tulsa where either signals were damaged or were without power. About 100 traffic signals were out of service.

Operators at the Tulsa E-9-1-1 center were overwhelmed with thousands of calls as the storm moved through Tulsa. Tulsa firefighters were battling 8 to 10 house fires at one time during the night, with most of the fires believed to be caused by lightning.

Tulsa Parks were affected by the storms. Loss of power at Parks swimming pools and recreation centers forced closures of pools and summer day camps until power can be restored. The Lacy, McClure, Reed and Central Park recreation centers and the Waterworks studio are closed.

Lacy, McClure, Reed and Whiteside Parks pools had no power.

The Tulsa Garden Center was also closed because of trees blocking driveways.

Tulsa Police were on duty throughout the night patrolling neighborhoods and business areas where power was out and alarm systems were not functioning. Police Chief Chuck Jordan said police officers also helped remove debris from streets.

You can report outages or hazardous conditions to PSO online.

PSO's morning update:

Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO)

Storm Outage Update #1

(NOTE: This e-mail is being sent to PSO employees whose responsibilities include communicating with external audiences such as emergency management officials, local elected officials and state regulatory commissions. Please share the information below with your contacts as appropriate.)

Storm Response Update: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 - 10:30 a.m.

PSO is dealing with significant weather-related power outages across the Tulsa metropolitan area due to a severe thunderstorm packing 60-80 mph winds that struck in the early morning hours.

OUTAGES AND RESTORATION EFFORTS

Tulsa District

As of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 24, approximately 93,000 customers in the Tulsa metro area were without electric service. Customer outages are most numerous in the southwestern portion of the metro area.

At present, PSO has approximately 370 line and tree workers focused on restoring power in the Tulsa metro area. An additional 1,030 workers from other AEP companies and other utilities have been requested to support restoration efforts.

At this early stage in the storm recovery PSO is still assessing damage to the electric system while working to make repairs and restore power. Initial assessment found that there are a number of Distribution poles that are damaged along with several Transmission structures. Currently, 93 main feeder lines are out of operation. PSO hopes to complete damage assessment later today.

Also, later today PSO hopes to issue a "global" estimate of when power will be restored to all customers who are able to take power. That initial estimated time for restoration will be updated as the storm recovery work progresses.

CUSTOMER MESSAGES

• Customers should prepare for a multi-day power outage and are urged to take necessary steps to ensure their health and safety while PSO works to restore power.
• For safety's sake, assume that any downed utility line is energized with deadly electric current. Stay away from the line and do not touch it with anything. Report it to PSO at 1-888-216-3523.

INFORMATION

We will continue to provide additional information to you as the restoration effort moves forward.

A "snapshot" view of current outages is available anytime at PSOklahoma.com. Go to the Outages and Problems section of the site and click "View Outage Map."

Next Update: 07/24/2013 - Approximately 4:30 p.m.