Worker dies while trying to restore power after storms

Friday, June 17th 2005, 12:51 pm

By: News On 6

A Public Service Co. of Oklahoma employee was killed Friday while trying to restore electricity after severe thunderstorms that produced at least one tornado and winds of at least 70 mph across Oklahoma a day earlier.

PSO spokesman Stan Whiteford said the male employee died while working near Leedey in western Oklahoma. Dewey County Sheriff Bud Prentice said the man slipped on wet grass after getting out of his boom truck around 4 a.m. and slid into an area where power lines had fallen during the storm along Oklahoma Highway 47 about nine miles east of Leedey.

The worker's partners called for help and attempted to resuscitate him, but a medical examiner pronounced him dead at the scene. The man's name was being withheld until his family could be notified. Whiteford said he was from Elk City.

Storm spotters confirmed a tornado north and east of Knowles in the Oklahoma Panhandle around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, said K.D. Shook, emergency management director for Beaver County.

A barn was twisted off its foundation and trees and power lines were damaged, authorities said.

The storm also produced moderate flooding, heavy rain and hail ranging from pea-size to quarter-size, Shook said. Another tornado warning was issued about 90 minutes later.

Tornado warnings also were issued farther to the south for Alfalfa County, where power lines were knocked down and the roofs of barns were blown off, said Neal Wallace with the Helena Police Department.

``We had a spotter out, but it came on us unexpectedly,'' Wallace said.

Late Friday morning, about 11,780 customers were without power, according to the Oklahoma Gas & Electric Web site. OG&E listed more than 2,200 customers without power in Ardmore, another 1,850 in Durant and 1,600 in Guthrie.

In addition, Whiteford said about 7,000 customers in the Chickasha area lost power at one time, with about 1,400 homes still without power Friday morning. Elsewhere, crews were working to restore power to about 275 homes in Hobart, 250 in Duncan and 200 in Okmulgee, Whiteford said.

``That was quite the storm, it went from the northwest to the southeast,'' Whiteford said. ``It's a pretty broad swath.''

Crews were working in the Tulsa area early Friday to restore power to about 700 homes darkened when a storm rolled through Thursday morning, Whiteford said. After the second front moved through at about 1 a.m. Friday, the number without power around Tulsa jumped to 1,500, Whiteford said.

By sunrise, outages in the Tulsa area were down to 500 and work would be completed within the day, Whiteford said. Early Thursday morning, there had been 26,000 customers without power in the Tulsa area.

``We're doing good,'' he said.

Hail the size of golfballs and wind gusts from 75 mph to 90 mph also were reported as the storms roared through northwestern Oklahoma.

High winds blew a wall at a Ringwood car wash over on top of a car, but no one was hurt, authorities said. Tree damage also was reported throughout the community.

In Hennessey, the window at a gas station was blown out and trees were damaged in residential areas, police dispatcher Lonnie McDade said.

The cluster of storms that formed along a cold front as it dove southward out of Kansas came on the heels of another batch of strong storms that originated in the high plains of Colorado.

The initial line hammered northern Oklahoma Wednesday night and hit central and southern sections during the day.

High winds accompanying a storm blew down power lines and trees in McCurtain County Thursday afternoon, forcing the temporary closure of Oklahoma Highway 3 near Idabel. The road was reopened after utility crews removed power lines from the roadway, the highway patrol reported.