Thousands powerless as storms blast Okla.
Pastor Dale Morgan
Thousands powerless as storms blast Okla.*
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gusty winds knocked tree limbs into power lines and
lightning struck several electric transformers early Wednesday as a line
of thunderstorms pushed through Oklahoma City.
About 5,000 customers of Oklahoma Gas & Electric, mostly in and around
Oklahoma City, were without power at the height of the storm about 6:30
a.m., said Gil Broyles, a spokesman for the utility.
"When you have some limbs drooping with new vegetation, it doesn't take
much to knock them down," Broyles said.
About 3,000 customers were still without power around 9 a.m. Wednesday,
including 818 in Shawnee and 776 in Moore. Outages also were reported in
Tecumseh, Ardmore and Wanette.
As the storm system continued to push south Wednesday morning, the
National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Atoka, Bryan,
Marshall and Love counties in southern and southeast Oklahoma until
10:45 a.m. Wednesday.
"Because the ground in those areas is saturated, it doesn't take a whole
lot of rain to kick off flash flooding," said Daryl Williams, a
forecaster with the National Weather Service in Norman. "Some of those
areas already had 4- and 5-inch rainfalls over the weekend."
Ardmore police rescued a handful of stranded motorists Wednesday as
heavy rains pounded the area and flooded city streets, but there were no
reports of road closures.
Moderate rains fell early Wednesday in Marietta, but there were no
immediate reports of flash flooding, said Love County Undersheriff Jason
Bone.
"There's nothing right now, but that doesn't mean there won't be some
problems here in the next few hours," Bone said Wednesday.
Several low-lying spots along Oklahoma 77 in Love County typically get
covered during heavy rains, Bone said.
The thunderstorms are the result of a cold front pushing in from the
north and colliding with a very moist airmass that's been in place over
the state for several days, Williams said.
"There's an upper-level low that will kick off waves of energy and
combine with this moist airmass we've had in place, and there will be,
off and on, chances for thunderstorms and heavy rain," Williams said.
Rain chances are expected to continue for the next several days.