‘We’re Going To Be Praying For Something To Cool Us Down’: Oklahomans Deal With Widespread Power Outages

Crews are working to restore power across the state after storms on Saturday left hundreds of thousands in the dark.

Oklahoma Electric and Gas says at the peak it had 139,000 customers without power. As of Monday evening that number was just under 26,000.

To make matters worse, those without power are forced to withstand sweltering heat.

In her home near Northwest 19th Street and North Portland Avenue, Angie Gibson says losing power is something she counts on during any severe weather event.

“We are always affected,” she said. “We always go without power.”

This particular outage has been especially tough considering the temperature.

“I’m not looking forward to 2 O’clock to 5 O’clock,” said Gibson. “That’s when we’re going to be praying for something to cool us down.”

A rise in temperature has also brought a rise in frustration for Gibson.

“It’s always longer than everyone else,” she said. “Our neighborhood is always last on the call ticket.”

OG&E says it understands the frustration, but there is a procedure for restoration.

The efforts focus first on critical infrastructure like hospitals before moving to homes and businesses. More than 4000 crew members have been out working to do just that.

“We’ve got outages spread across our service area,” said OG&E spokesman, Aaron Cooper. “That is the reason why this storm is a little bit different is that the damage is widespread.”

The company says some of the damage was also in rural areas, making access a challenge.

The company hopes to have damage assessments completed Monday, which will allow them to issue restoration estimates.

In the meantime, the company recommends those who need a break from the heat visit any of the listed places to cool down.