Wednesday's Inclement Weather Causes Brief Problems For Ongoing Cleanup Efforts

Wednesday’s brief rain and winds did not make things any easier for people still cleaning up after the storm, but progress is being made.  

At the peak of the outages, PSO reported more than 200,000 customers without power. Now, that number is less than 100,000, meaning that four days after the storm, crews are reaching a halfway point.  

If Tulsa traffic is a nightmare, city crews are working to make dreams come true, with new traffic signals waiting to find their new homes, so drivers can say goodbye to the blinking red lights, and four-way stops. Crews are working 12-hour shifts to get the job done.  

While Brookside is bustling back to life, Cherry Street is recovering at a much slower pace. 

"It's still just dead and really slow out here,” Jordan Bordwine said. She’s an employee at Magnolia Soap. Despite not having power, they’re open for business.  

“It's pretty hot in here,” she said.  

Bordwine is making bath bombs and getting ready for a sale on Saturday, hoping, along with everyone else, the power will be back before then. 

Around the corner, a stretch of power poles on Peoria is getting some much-needed attention, as linemen work to replace hundreds of poles across the city. 

And as the winds pick up, it brings new worries for people like gardener Jane Eagleton.  

"With this new weather, you know we're gonna have more wind come in and whatever branches broke halfway are gonna fall again. It's gonna put people behind, it's just scary. So I think everyone should be very careful walking under their trees,” Eagleton said.  

Garrett Thomas with Rembrandt Roofing was working on a home near 31st and Peoria on Wednesday, which has power, but a world of trouble in the backyard.  

"It actually broke from right up top, about 30 feet up. And then fell down right in here, covered up their entire yard,” he said.  

As day four of the storm's aftermath unfolds, it is hard for some to see an end in sight.  

"And it hasn't slowed down. It's picked up every day,” Thomas said.  

Tulsa County Emergency Management is comparing this event to a hurricane.