Oklahomans brace for snow storm, remain in deep freeze

The cold and ice have had their way with Oklahomans. Now it's the snow's turn. <br><br>A winter storm crept across Oklahoma Tuesday, bringing a steady snowfall that forecasters expected to last

Tuesday, December 12th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The cold and ice have had their way with Oklahomans. Now it's the snow's turn.

A winter storm crept across Oklahoma Tuesday, bringing a steady snowfall that forecasters expected to last into Wednesday in many places.

``It should be a pretty high snow event for the state,'' National Weather Service forecaster Ken Gallant said Tuesday.

He said most of the state should receive between 2 to 4 inches of snow, but that some portions of central Oklahoma could see as much as 8 inches of powder.

``It's not all that unusual,'' Gallant said. ``A storm that comes across and dumps 4 to 8 inches over the central part of the state would probably happen in the order of once every couple of years.''

By Tuesday afternoon, snow blanketed the ground across much of Oklahoma, which was seeing its second day of subfreezing temperatures.

In Altus on Tuesday, Janet Scroggs peeked up at overcast skies that seemed pregnant with snow.

Scroggs operates a barbed-wire fencing company with her husband, Burl, and said she guessed the business had about three or four crews doing projects in southern Oklahoma and Texas.

She said crews often can't work if the ground is frozen or muddied by precipitation. ``Being in this business if there is bad weather, we don't get to finish a job or even start one,'' Janet said. ``It can really affect anyone who does construction outside.''

Scroggs said she knew of no problems so far, but was handling the weather as it came.

In Oklahoma City, firefighters responded to four house fires caused by heating devices Tuesday, including one that destroyed a home on the southeast side of the city, said fire Maj. Brian Stanaland. There were no injuries.

Stanaland said one fire was caused by a wood stove, another by a kerosene heater and a third by a gas fireplace. A fourth incident involved a heater fan which burned out and caused smoke to fill a house, Stanaland said.

``It's just one of those situations where people need to use extra caution,'' Stanaland said. ``A lot of them are igniting their fireplace for first time or using floor furnaces, space heaters, things of that nature.''

For the second day, an arctic wave pushed temperatures into the teens across the state.

Tuesday's snow storm came after an initial front that turned roadways in northeastern Oklahoma into icy black strips Monday. Passengers were stranded at airports, some schools were forced to close, and the homeless went running for shelter.

On Monday, Tulsa police reported nearly 100 reports of traffic accidents.

``It was a busy morning and early afternoon,'' said Officer Lucky Lamons. ``There were 15 accidents without injuries, 41 where we had to respond because of possible injuries, 27 that had injuries, and 13 hit-and-runs.''

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Stan Roberts said dozens of accidents _ most of them single-car crashes _ were reported on state and county roads.

Brief electrical outages were reported in several Oklahoma communities, the result of freezing rain and blowing wind.

OG&E Electric Services reported that about 80 people were affected by power outages in Fairmont in Garfield County on Sunday and Monday, while Breckinridge went without power for about two hours on Sunday.

Some power line problems also were reported in the Medford area in northcentral Oklahoma on Sunday, said OG&E spokesman Jim Rives.

The Salvation Army in Tulsa witnessed its largest overnight stay in years, said Tracey Redmon, director of social services.

``Last night we had 293 stay at our shelter. We have been having a lot of visitors lately _ averaging around 250 _ but last night topped everything,'' she said Monday.

The 350-bed facility is equipped to host more people if needed, Redmon said.

Sandra Holden of the Day Center for the Homeless also saw more people.

``The weather is part of what brought most of our guests to us,'' she said.

Serving 500 people, including families, Holden said the numbers are an increase of about 100 people.

``The best thing to know is, they are safe and we are here for them if they need us,'' she said.