Situation Update 4

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management

Situation Update 4

May 3, 2019 – 5:45 p.m.

As a result of ongoing severe weather response and recovery efforts, the State Emergency Operations Center remains activated. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM) is in contact with emergency managers across the state and coordinating with agencies and organizations including the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Oklahoma Corporation Commission, Oklahoma State Department of Health, Oklahoma National Guard, Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security, Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Oklahoma Insurance Department, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, National Weather Service, Oklahoma American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief and the Oklahoma Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.

State of Emergency remains in effect for 52 Oklahoma counties due to severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding that began Tuesday. Under the Executive Order, state agencies can make emergency purchases and acquisitions needed to expedite the delivery of resources to local jurisdictions. The declaration also marks a first step toward seeking federal assistance should it be necessary.

The counties included in the declaration are: Adair, Atoka, Bryan, Canadian, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Garvin, Grady, Haskell, Hughes, Jefferson, Johnston, Latimer, Le Flore, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Marshall, Mayes, McClain, McCurtain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee, Nowata, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Rogers, Seminole, Sequoyah, Stephens, Tillman, Tulsa, Wagoner, and Washington.

Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reports three fatalities attributed to the storms.

Male, 55 years old, Tulsa

Female, 58 years old, Bokchito

Male, 58 years old, Stephens County

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health:

-22 injuries have been reported by area hospitals as a result of storms in southeast Oklahoma on April 30.

-10 injuries have been reported by area hospitals as a result of storms in southern Oklahoma on May 1.

An incident support team is deployed to Atoka County to assist with volunteer and donations management, damage assessments, and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) support. The team includes emergency management personnel from Choctaw County, Logan County, Marshall County, Muskogee County, Pontotoc County, and Shawnee/Pottawatomie County.

An additional team for EOC support is deploying to Bryan County.

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management is providing tarps to Bryan and Pittsburg counties for temporary roof repairs. Oklahoma National Guard is providing a team of personnel to tarp roofs in Pittsburg County. Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Salvation Army transported the tarps.

Choctaw Nation is providing a sandbag machine to Bryan County.

Oklahoma Department of Transportation is providing a backhoe to Choctaw Nation for debris removal.

Civil Air Patrol is providing flyover photos and mapping of the impacted areas in Atoka, Bryan, and Pittsburg counties.

FirstNet, built with AT&T, is providing a Satellite COLT (Cell on Light Truck) to assist with connectivity issues for responders in Bryan County. This request was coordinated by the Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security and Oklahoma Public Safety Broadband Network.

Residents who need assistance with chainsaw or debris removal may contact Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief at (405) 516-4822 or www.okdisasterhelp.org/request-assistance.

In southeast Oklahoma, American Red Cross is providing snacks and bulk supplies distribution as well as case management support. They are also providing canteens, bulk supplies distribution and casework management support in northeast Oklahoma. They have opened 23 cases with storm-impacted families since April 30.

Mennonite Disaster Services is assisting with debris removal, cutting trees, and tarping roofs in Atoka County.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reports nurse strike teams continued to provide tetanus shots in Haileyville on Friday.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reports 1,355 outages statewide.

OG&E - TOTAL: 716
Norman: 197
Spiro: 374 
Sapulpa:  145

PSO - TOTAL: 110
Most outages in the Broken Arrow area 

Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative - TOTAL: 403
Delaware County: 312
Mayes County: 3
Ottawa County: 88

CKenergy Electric Cooperative - TOTAL: 87
Caddo County: 1
Canadian County: 83
Kiowa County: 1
Washita County: 2

Southwest Rural Electric Association - TOTAL: 39
Jackson County: 10
Kiowa County: 28
Tillman County: 1

Oklahoma Department of Transportation reports the following highways are closed due to flooding as of 4:30 p.m.:

Cherokee County - SH-80 is closed four miles west of Hulbert near Fort Gibson Lake

Delaware County - SH-127 is closed near Jay just west of US-59 due to a damaged drainage structure

Johnston County - SH-48A is closed at the SH-48 junction in Coleman; SH-48A is closed two miles north of Milburn.

Love County - SH-77-Scenic is closed at Lake Murray Spillway

Pittsburg County - SH-63 is NOW OPEN between Haileyville and Bache Rd.

To check current road conditions in Oklahoma, visit www.okroads.org.

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management continues to ask residents impacted by the April 30 storms to report damages to their property at damage.ok.gov or by calling (405) 496-9329. Reporting damage helps local and state emergency managers better coordinate response and recovery efforts. Residents can report damage to homes, businesses or agriculture through the online survey.

When disaster strikes, the best way to support survivors of emergencies or disasters in Oklahoma is with cash donations to reputable voluntary organizations. Cash donations allow relief organizations or survivors to purchase what they need, when and where they need it. Buying supplies locally helps the local community recover by helping local businesses pay salaries and by keeping tax revenues in the community.

Other donated items are not needed or requested by local officials at this time. Do not send unsolicited donations of used clothing, miscellaneous items or perishable foods, which must be sorted, warehoused, transported and distributed. This requires more efforts and staffing to manage those resources and takes away from recovery efforts.

Attorney General Mike Hunter today announced the state’s price gouging statute is in effect for the 52 counties named in the governor’s state of emergency declaration. The Emergency Price Stabilization Act prohibits an increase of more than 10% for the price of goods and services after a declared emergency. The statute triggers automatically after the governor issues a state of emergency. The law allows the attorney general to pursue charges against individuals or businesses that engage in price gouging.

For more information or to report a complaint, individuals can contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit by phone at (405) 521-2029, or email at consumerprotection@oag.ok.gov. Download the Attorney General’s Disaster Scam Prevention Packet here: https://bit.ly/2GUNYU0.

For Oklahoma residents seeking non-emergency disaster or health and human service information, please contact your local 2-1-1. Services are available 24 hours a day by dialing 2-1-1 from your home or cellular telephone. Please only call 911 for emergencies.

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