STWOK News

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / May 20, 2010) — The City of Stillwater is in a restoration and recovery mode for two major events from yesterday: One caused by the storm and one unrelated. First, a tornado caused tree and power line damage, and, second, a break in the 16-inch water transmission main that feeds the 19th and Range water tower.

Powerline
The city’s Electric Utilities Department had 30 employees working through the evening to restore power. All customers within the city, who did not have damage to their service drop were restored by midnight. The customers located outside of the city along McElroy west of the city were restored by approximately 2 a.m.

According to Stillwater Utilities Authority Director Dan Blankenship, “The west end of the tornado damage area within city limits started at Lincoln Street, and it followed a path from west to east along the approximate alignment of Eskridge Avenue. The east end of the damage area stops approximately at N. Star Street, one block west of Perkins Road. The damage area is approximately 2.5 to 3 blocks wide.”

Blankenship said, “There was an eyewitness that reported the tornado on the ground in the area of the OSU cross-country track, which lies between Western Road and the damage area. Eyewitnesses at Will Rogers/Lincoln and Eskridge/Jefferson (approx. half block apart) reported a funnel cloud overhead that was not on the ground when it passed over the area. It appears that the tornado was not on the ground in the damage area as the damage appeared to be primarily to trees. The falling trees and tree branches resulted in damage to some structures and to the power lines.”

The main power problem occurred when a tree limb got into the power line in the 1000 block of N. Main (approximately one block north of McElroy).

Blankenship explained, “The limb caused the breaker for feeder 14 to open, which turned off the power for the entire circuit. The approximate boundaries for the circuit are Lakeview (north), HOF (south), Husband (west) and Manning (east).”

There are approximately 960 customers on the circuit that were out of power from approximately 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. (actual times will be confirmed later today). The total number of customers that were out of power due to problems with the electric distribution system is estimated to be about one thousand.

“There are still some customers who are out of power due to damage to their service drop. Damage to the service drop at the house requires the homeowner to make repairs before their service can be re-energized,” he said.

“The feeder 14 breaker would not close due to mechanical failure at the BLS substation. Had the breaker closed when the limb was cleared, the power would have most likely been restored by 8 p.m. The sub station is currently being upgraded, but the project will be delayed due to the lack of funding in FY11,” Blankenship continued.

Water Main
The second major event was the water transmission main break, which is located along W. 6th Avenue (west of Country Club Road) was reported at approximately 2:30 a.m.

Blankenship explained that crews were at the time repairing a major leak in the water system at a location on Husband Street. The booster pump station located at west 6th and Country Club had to be shut down to depressurize the water line and the water tower at 19th and Range is out of service until the repair can be made.

“The best case scenario is the line will be repaired and back into service sometime later this morning. Most likely scenario is that the line will be repaired and back into service later this afternoon. The southwest portion of the city is impacted by the water main break and some customers are already reporting that they have no water. The water main break is not related in any way to the wind/tornado damage,” Blankenship explained.