Frozen Pipes Across Norman Cause Problems For Students, Businesses

Jacqueline Sit, News 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- The arctic temperatures and bitter cold are causing pipes to freeze and bust across the state.

"We didn't have water for four days so we had to scoop snow to survive," OU student Kasey Steffen said.

From doing the dishes to flushing the toilets, Steffen used snow to keep things running at home.

"We didn't realize how much water my roommate and I used until this happen," said Steffen. "Brushing my teeth with it was cold so I used candles to melt a bowl of snow and it worked better than a microwave."

Daniel Ice with Mullin Plumbing has been busy dealing with busted pipes around the metro.

"Keep your faucet on even if nothing comes out. It will give the water a place to go when it starts to thaw," Ice said.

"I'm going to keep my faucets dripping from now on so this doesn't happen again," Steffen said.

Busted pipes flooded the floor of a local medical building. Business is still open as usual. Ice said they had between 200 to 300 calls on Thursday about frozen and busted pipes.

"We've never had this much cold weather for this long," Ice said.