Some OK Families Still Without Power Due To Winter Storm

More than a week after a winter storm knocked out power in several small towns from Okeene to Fairview, some families were still waiting for the lights to come back on.

Tuesday, March 5th 2013, 7:48 pm

By: News 9


More than a week after a winter storm knocked out power in several small towns from Okeene to Fairview, some families were still waiting for the lights to come back on.

Broken power poles and snapped electric lines lined streets, evidence of the heavy snow and ice that put thousand in the dark before the storm moved out.

Tuesday, there were still several hundred customers without power, but crews were working hard to get everyone back on the grid by the end of the week before the next storm system.

Cimarron Electric said more than 900 of their poles were knocked down and at least 250 customers still didn't have electricity, like the Westfahl family who live just North of Okeene, Oklahoma. They lost power eight days ago.

"It was snowing very heavily. Of course is rained some before that and our electricity flickered off and on probably twenty or thirty times and then finally about one-thirty Monday it went off and stayed off," said LaDonna Westfahl. "We went out in his four-wheel drive pick-up and saw all the lines down and a lot of the lines were, as big around as pop cans with snow and ice on them, and that's when I realized that we were probably going to be out for a while. I didn't realize that it had done that much.

The Westfahls were still without power Tuesday afternoon. They were relying on a generator they bought years ago but never used until last week. Their house had a maze of extension cords running through it to power a lamp, a crock pot, a phone charger and the television.

Late Tuesday, electric crews were working just a quarter of a mile down the street but there was no word on how quickly the power would be turned back on.

"I called yesterday and they said Wednesday or Thursday but there are crews working out on our road today so I'm hoping maybe today they'll get it on," Westfahl explained.

A representative with Cimarron Electric said they planned to have all customers' power restored by the end of the week.

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