Sunshine and blue skies!
At three o'clock this afternoon we're seeing sunshine and blue skies here in Snyder, America for the first time since last Wednesday's sunny, springlike day. We were commenting on Wednesday how strange it seemed for there to be a winter storm watch on the horizon. What a difference 24 hours made!
Today is day 6 of the ordeal southwest Oklahomans have come to know as the Ice Storm of 2010. Power has been off in Snyder and many other communities since Thursday afternoon, and water went off Friday and came back on Saturday, to go off again last night.
Snyder's water plant had gotten power back from rural electric, but lost it when they lost three substations Monday. According to Vice Mayor Teresa Mills a FEMA generator was on the way from Corps of Engineers this morning complete with diesel and ready to be hooked up, so water should be back online tonight.
Many people have worked diligently to help everybody keep warm, fed and safe. Mills said city employees have been doing whatever is needed, working out of the old fire bay at city hall with power from a generator. Assistant Police Chief Terry Taylor has kept his department up and running with no big emergencies reported. Fire Chief Bill Graves reported no fires during this time.
Snyder First Baptist Church has kept their shelter open since Friday, providing hot meals and shelter. Kari Ayers and Kirk Reimers were manning the kitchen yesterday and reported serving around 130 for lunch, with about half that many for breakfast and supper. They have six or seven people sleeping there. They reported lots of help from church members along with the youth and other community members. Food has kept coming in from many groups and individuals.
Mandy Higginbotham, who was also helping at the church, said they were open at First National Bank, Mountain Park, working with hand held calculators in the cold. Bank of the Wichitas in Snyder is also open with a generator running. Jean Merchant at the Snyder Post Office said they had not missed a whole day, only missed rural delivery on Friday.
A few Snyder businesses have been open, including Willis Quick Stop, Toma Grocery, and Snyder Hardware.
I have to say I was being quite nonchalant about the whole winter storm business before it hit. Having never been in a situation where the whole area was without power for more than a day or two at most, I just could not imagine it happening to us. Even when we lived in the country we were never without power for this long. I imagine many others were the same. I know I won't take my luxuries for granted quite so much after this.
It will take some time for the aftermath of this storm to be over, with so much cleanup of tree limbs and debris to be done. Lots of chores have been put on hold with no power, and many will have to clean out freezers and refrigerators.
The trickle down effect will cause lasting repercussions, too. Businesses unable to be open will lose money, and sales tax will not be generated. Hourly workers will miss paychecks. We've witnessed this sort of thing in other areas with disasters, but never had it hit this close to home. I have a friend who was in the position of having school age children without daycare, and a job at a business that was open. There are just so many ways that such a disaster affects so many different people it's kind of mind-boggling to think of.
For the most part we are seeing the best of those in our communities who are helping people, and the workers who are toiling to get our services back up and running. Let us hope that we can all remain patient in the hours, days, and even weeks to come until we store away the ice storm of 2010 in our memories and photo albums.
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