According to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, nearly 26,000 homes and businesses statewide remain without electricity because of the storm. The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives reported more than 24,000 electric cooperative customers are without power, with the highest number of outages concentrated in Cherokee and Adair counties.
While the thaw allowed tree limbs and electric lines to shed ice, it also caused additional outages, officials said. With the release of weight, lines "bounce” and come together briefly, causing fuses to blow and circuit breakers to operate or lock out. Tree limbs that snapped back and hit lines led to outages as well.
In Cherokee County, icy roads have caused major delays in power restoration efforts, which could last through the middle of next week, officials said.
Meanwhile, conditions began returning to normal in the Tulsa metro area, where most school districts reopened for classes on Friday following two days of gradual melting of ice and snow from city streets.
The Emergency Medical Services Authority reported that Thursday it had responded to 100 falls and 96 vehicle crashes in the Tulsa area since Monday.
Of the 100 falls, 77 people were taken to hospitals.
Still powerless In eastern parts of the state, more than 100 people were staying in American Red Cross shelters in Stilwell, Westville, Tahlequah and Cookson, a small town on Tenkiller Lake in Cherokee County.
At the Tenkiller Area Community Organization building in Cookson, Fred Hamon and his wife, Daphne, were among those housed in the Red Cross shelter there.
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