Pressure mounts on electric companies trying to restore power

Wednesday, January 3rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(AP)- Electric crews working for the 10th straight day to restore power to thousands of Oklahomans found themselves facing dangerous work conditions and increasingly frustrated residents.

Crews had restored power to all but 13,957 Oklahoma homes and businesses by mid-Wednesday. A week ago, some 170,000 homes were powerless following the Dec. 25 ice storm and 42,860 were without electricity Monday night.

But the work is not easy _ nor safe.

A lineman working in Haskell County was killed Monday afternoon, but officials were releasing few details about the man or the circumstances of his death. Emergency officials said the Missouri man was working as a contract lineman for Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative.

Overall, officials said storm-related deaths had climbed to 25.

A 59-year-old woman died in Oklahoma City after a fall on a slick workplace parking lot, and the death of a 72-year-old Ponca City woman is believed to stem from exposure to the cold after a fall on ice outside her home, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management.

Ponca City police, however, said they were awaiting confirmation from the state medical examiner that the woman's death was weather related.

``We're reminding everyone to check on your neighbors, especially the elderly,'' Ooten said.

Thirteen other deaths stem from traffic accidents. There were also two carbon monoxide poisonings, two other deadly falls on the ice, a sledding accident and a fall through an ice-covered creek, among other mishaps.

An 82-year-old man with Alzheimer's survived 18 hours in 16-degree weather after crashing his pickup on an icy Ada street and becoming confused.

Joseph Marsee left his home Monday afternoon. He was found standing near his pickup by passersby just before 8 a.m. Tuesday with three broken vertebrae and two broken ribs, officials said.

``The only reason he's still here is because God just wasn't ready to take him and God answered the prayers of a lot of people,'' Marsee's stepdaughter, Dee McCants said.

The National Weather Service was predicting warmer temperatures _ perhaps reaching into the 50s _ for Oklahoma over the next few days.

Tulsa, in its 23rd day with snow on the ground, broke a record Wednesday for the longest snow cover in the city's history. National Weather Service officials said a thaw in Oklahoma City before the Christmas storm prevented a similar record there.

Meanwhile, electric companies faced pressure to move faster.

The Choctaw Electric Cooperative bumped up security at its Idabel office after one upset customer verbally threatened workers.

Kiamichi Electric has hired more than 250 extra crew members to help restore power in hard-hit areas of Pittsburg, Latimer and LeFlore counties. More than 500 broken and downed power poles have been reported in Kiamichi's service area, and the number keeps rising, a spokeswoman said.

Kiamichi's manager, Steve Bryan, begged for Oklahomans' patience.

``These guys are working very long hours in extremely bad weather,'' Bryan said. ``The impact of this storm is simply overwhelming.''

By Wednesday morning 3,100 customers of American Electric Power-Public Service Co. of Oklahoma remained without power. The majority of them live in Idabel and rural McAlester, spokesman Stan Whiteford said.

``We expect to have 99.9 percent of everybody on by Friday,'' he said, referring to customers whose meters were in shape to take power.

Robert Peavy, director of McCurtain County civil emergency management, said power had been restored by Monday to most customers in the county's towns, but that rural areas still were suffering. ``We probably have 2,000 to 3,000 people without power,'' he said. ``We have some elderly people that are having food problems, but we're taking care of that through the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.''

Up to 1,000 people in the Wynnewood, Davis and Roff areas of southern Oklahoma remained without electricity and/or water service.

``I know those people who still don't have power are still pretty inconvenienced, but our crews have done really well, considering the conditions and the snow we had this weekend,'' said Monica Hasler, a spokeswoman for the People's Electric Cooperative.

But the response to crews has been positive, too, with some communities hosting dinners for the workers.

They weren't the only ones being fed: 23 shelters and seven feeding stations remained open across the state Wednesday, emergency officials said.