Midtown Neighborhood Still Waiting For Power

A lot of Tulsa neighborhoods remain in the dark and, for some, the power can't be turned on until homes are repaired. The News On 6's Emory Bryan reports a lot of Tulsans have started living on a daylight to dark cycle as they try to stay warm, while waiting for the power to come back on. In a Tulsa neighborhood near 22nd and Florence, the damage is so severe; many homes won't be able to get electricity even when the power lines are repaired.

All over Tulsa, homeowners work to clean up the damage from the ice storm. The tolerable weather, with the threat of worse weather to come, sent many people outdoors to assess their damage and start cleaning up, while they wait on the power they hope will be restored soon. Sally Pearcy has some help to clear the limbs from her yard, which fell from two oak trees. The limbs ripped the meter and breaker box right off the house.

"For her we're just clearing the lines so she can get hooked back up, so we're doing this little section and we'll come back and get the rest later," said tree trimmer Fred Framptom.

In the Florence Park neighborhood, some of the biggest trees lost their largest limbs. That brought down the distribution lines to the neighborhood and the poles, too.

Many of Tulsa's neighborhoods have extreme tree damage that will take weeks or months to clean up. In some cases, the electrical system can't be repaired until the trees are removed.

"Well just a lot of lines down and no power. Limbs everywhere," said Tulsan Pat O'Conner.

He is cleaning up what he can while he waits on an electrician. His meter was ripped out, too. And, that actually pulled some of the inside wiring out of his house.