Winter Weather, Extreme Cold Update Feb. 19; 9 a.m.
The City of Tulsa, Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency (TAEMA), and various community partners are continuing to respond to winter weather and extreme cold temperatures.
Currently, Tulsa’s Emergency Operations Center is activated at Level 3 for increased monitoring and facilitation between area agencies and partners to ensure a swift and coordinated response to emerging community needs.
With negative wind chills in place until midday Thursday, the extreme cold remains the biggest threat of this weather event.
Streets Update
Overnight and continuing through this morning, City of Tulsa street crews have switched to group snow plowing. Underneath the snow is black ice, which is why the City will also be out today applying salt after the main roads have been cleared.
When it comes to sidewalks, pedestrians are urged to practice caution, as many untreated sidewalks are iced over.
The City's snow and ice routes, in addition to the resources the City has to treat Tulsa's roads, can be found online at www.cityoftulsa.org/winterpreparedness.
Police and Fire -- Reporting an Accident
Tulsa’s Police and Fire Departments want to urge drivers to stay off the roads until conditions improve.
If you must be out and find yourself in a traffic accident, please use the following guidelines:
Getting People Inside
Outreach teams from A Way Home for Tulsa agencies worked throughout the day yesterday and will continue today to work to ensure those experiencing homelessness have knowledge of safe and warm spaces available to them. The Tulsa Fire Department, in coordination with other partners, worked through the night helping to transport people to safe and warm shelter.
While all area shelters currently have the space to meet needs, the City and its partners are continuing to monitor capacity/occupancy and will make adjustments to the plan if additional space is warranted.
To see the complete list of area shelters, in addition to needed donation items and how you can report someone in need of shelter, visitwww.housingsolutionstulsa.org/get-help/winter-weather-information/
City Service Updates
The City of Tulsa will be sending information today regarding Thursday in-person services. In the meantime, most in-person City services are impacted today due to the weather.
Impacts for Wednesday, Feb. 19
Tulsa Parks Closures
⦁ All Tulsa Parks Recreation Centers will be closed through Wednesday, including Centennial, Oxley Nature Center and Tulsa Garden Center.
⦁ Mohawk and Page Belcher Golf Courses will be closed until at least Friday. Re-opening will be determined by course conditions.
⦁ The Williams Crossing Pedestrian Bridge and unheated restrooms will be closed until at least Thursday. Trails will not be plowed until after snowfall has ceased so trails may be hazardous.
⦁ The Tulsa Zoo will be closed through Thursday.
⦁ The Tulsa Performing Arts Center, BOK event center, and Convention Center will be closed to the public through Wednesday. At this point, public events scheduled for this weekend will go on as planned.
While in-person services are closed, most City business can be conducted online or over the phone:
File a 311 request or question:
Trash & Recycling
For the safety of trash crews, trash service has been suspended at least through Thursday due to extreme temperatures and neighborhood street conditions. Tulsans are asked to leave carts at the curb and crews will resume collection as soon as conditions allow.
As a reminder, recycling has been canceled for the remainder of the week. Tulsa utility customers will be able to put out overflow recyclables in a recyclable container on their regular service day next week.
Bulky Waste/Dead Animal Pickup
All scheduled bulky waste pickups will be postponed through Thursday, with services expected to resume Friday. While affected customers have been notified, missed collections will be rescheduled as follows: Tuesday, Feb. 18, pickups will move to Tuesday, Feb. 25; both Wednesday, Feb. 12, and Wednesday, Feb. 19, pickups will move to Saturday, Feb. 22; and Thursday, Feb. 20, pickups will move to Thursday, Feb. 27.
Dead animal pickups will only be conducted for large animals requiring specialized machinery.
The Green Waste Facility is closed until further notice.
Waterline Breaks & Household Pipe Protection
While the City has not seen an uptick in waterline breaks, sustained extremely low temperatures could cause an uptick in breaks.
Pet Safety & Tulsa Animal Welfare
Since Monday, Tulsa Animal Services has responded to more than 100 calls for service with more than 86 calls related to animals out in the cold weather. TAS has taken in more than 75 animals so far and is working with local rescue groups to pull dogs to increase capacity.
As a reminder, all pets need to be brought inside and have access to water that is not frozen.
If you see someone leaving their dog out for prolonged periods of time in this weather in Tulsa, call Tulsa Animal Services at (918) 596-8001.
Public Service Company of Oklahoma
PSO is monitoring the weather closely and is ready to respond if needed. As of this morning, there were no widespread outages in Tulsa.
If your home loses power, notify PSO using the mobile app, www.psoklahoma.com, or by phone at 1-833-PSO-OUTG (833) 776-6884.
For safety’s sake, assume that any downed utility line is energized with deadly electric current. Stay away from the line and do not touch it with anything. Report it to PSO at 1-833-PSO OUTG or 1-833-776-6884.
EMSA
Since Tuesday, EMSA Paramedics and EMTs responded to seven cold exposure calls and transported three patients to Tulsa hospitals. Crews also responded to 41 traffic accidents and transported 16 patients to local hospitals, which is more than triple the normal rate.
So far this morning, EMSA crews have already responded to one cold exposure call in the Tulsa area.
Tulsa County
Tulsa County offices are closed today due to inclement weather. This includes the courthouse, headquarters building, and parks facilities. For updates, visit www.tulsacounty.org.
Oklahoma Natural Gas
Oklahoma Natural Gas continues to monitor the weather and is prepared to deliver safe, reliable natural gas to its customers’ homes and businesses across the state.
If you smell natural gas:
Metro Link Tulsa
Due to severe weather conditions, all MetroLink Tulsa services are suspended today, which means:
MetroLink is evaluating conditions as the day goes on and will make determinations about Thursday service. Stay up to date on MetroLink operations by following them on Facebook, @MetroLinkTulsa.
Tulsa Health Department
All THD locations will be closed through Wednesday. Stay up to date on THD operations by following them on Facebook, @TulsaHealth, and online at www.tulsa-health.org.
Stay Prepared
For a more complete list of tips and resources during times of extreme cold weather, visit the City of Tulsa’s winter weather resources page at www.cityoftulsa.org/weather.
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