Noble Oklahoma
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by Lin Stone
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The Noble Free Press reported that five sealed
bids for ice storm debris removal were received by City Manager Bob
Wade. Just to put this in its proper context: the top bid was for
over $164,000.00
The lowest bid This $1.00 bid came from a company highly experienced in all phases
of debris management projects operating out of Talahassee, Florida.
Subtract $1.00 from $164,000.00 and you can begin to appreciate the
full size of this gift to the Noble community. The Crowder Disaster
Recovery Staff is trained in all FEMA, state, and local regulations
for compliance and is also National Incident Management System
compliant. It has never had a contract terminated, or a contract
reassigned. Obviously it has a strong financial foundation. It had thirty two simultaneous contracts activated during the year 2004 Its Management Team includes:
Anyone wishing to express gratitude for this gift may
contact the company at the following: |
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| With St. Nick's next scheduled visit
still several weeks away, Noble is suffering nobly in a silver-glimned layer
of sweet ice. All 77 counties in Oklahoma have been declared disaster
areas. Half the town has been out of electricity, a fourth of
the town has been out of electricity and heat. Splitting trees boomed
like sudden bursts of angry thunder all morning. The winter storm came, not unannounced, but still unsuspected because this much damage to our southern stately trees could not be expected in paradise, even if we did live next to Norman. Big trees, stout trees, BIG OAK trees too, lie exploded all over Noble Oklahoma as if a barrage of grapeshot and cannonballs have enfiladed our homes and streets. |
| At first glance there was little reason for
why some trees split asunder, but at second glance many of them showed
weaknesses that had been festering for many years and just waiting for an
excuse to come crumbling down. Others were weakened by clumsy pruning,
or worse yet, decorative pruning that left limbs stretched far out from the
trunk. No matter what the cause of the trees capitulation, much of the
damage was done to trees, not to homes as hundreds of pounds of firewood
crumbled earthward as if fulfilling a silent desire to be whacked up and
stacked up for the fireplace. Noble citizens themselves were not dismayed by the damage. The streets never showed a sign of ice and traffic, though never thick, passed slowly by the worst scenes of havoc and nodded to those in the yards, not in the HA, HA mood that says YOU GOT IT, HUH? but as if to say, WE GOT IT, HUH? But this first burst of damage has not crippled the little town of Noble Oklahoma. With a second burst of damage expected, Super C was dishing out big bundles of purified drinking water to those who had not stocked up yet, and all was merry in the slightly over warm facility. Friends called up friends and took care of the needy. |
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Noble, and other communities too, are in the middle of the worst power outage in the history of Oklahoma. Twelve hours after the storm hit it was estimated that 650,000 homes were still without power and lights Weathermen said more storms were moving in and the situation could get much worse. When disasters like this strike our power companies have proven plans in place to deal with the situation. If just one area of the state is affected then men are rushed there from inside the state. When the situation expands thousands of men can be rushed in from surrounding states. According to the power company pacts, if the crisis strikes unexpectedly then it may take 24 hours for relief to arrive. If the crisis is expected (and certain) then relief could be in place and ready to spring into action hours BEFORE the storm strikes. The trouble with ice storms is, how do you KNOW how bad the effects will be until they actually happen? Sometimes it seems that God is determined to make fools of even the best weathermen on the planet. They predict solid ice and the temperature goes up to balmy. They predict light frost and trees are snapping into everywhere. This ice storm was expected, but not the severity, not the damage, not the intensity. Many people didn't make any preparations at all for the storm. Others stocked up, but only lightly. Ice has loaded up the power lines until many sagged, then crashed to the ground all over the state. Trees too are falling all over the state, many of them -- forgetting that their purpose in life was to protect nearby homes from icy winds and steaming sun -- lash out in destructive paths, taking down power lines, porches and even roofs. As you cruise down the most damaged streets it is easy to see that much of the damage coming from trees should have been foreseen and taken care of prior to the storm. Even now there are numerous tree boughs surrounding power lines in Norman Oklahoma, ready to take them down when the weather gets worse. With half an inch of ice on the trees still standing it is easy to see houses that are in danger of roofs being crushed, homes being smashed. Instead of waiting for insurance carriers to pay off when the damage is done (in this storm, or a later one) these trees should be noted, marked, and taken care of as quickly as possible. Perhaps local agents could protect their companies by noting the homes they have covered so that rates can be raised or at least ultimatums made. These trees were planted in the wrong place to start with. Others have been pruned for decorative purposes. They should have been brushed off, topped out or forcibly removed long ere this storm struck. True, the fierceness of this storm was not expected, but even a light study of history reveals there have been such ice storms in the past, and one never knows here when tornado winds will start trees to swaying from one side to another. Just snapping one power line can put an entire community out of power. A community out of power can produce a water shortage and wreak other havocs as well in very short order. One thing about an ice storm, when the limbs fall it is usually straight down. Stay out from under the tree and you should be safe. That's the rule. Rules were made to be broken. Many times, on their way down, the tip of the limb will strike another limb (the power lines, the edge of the house, etc..) and this immediately changes the direction of the limb as it falls so that we know not where it will strike, nor even which end of the limb will land the farthest from the tree. Too quick for us to even shout a warning, our next door neighbor darted under her huge tree to yank a limb off her insurance agent's car. Sure enough, there was a cannon shot above her and another huge tree limb crashed towards her. She scooted for her life towards us. The limb should have surely struck her but the tip struck another limb and it swung end for end, missing her head by many feet instead of knocking her dead. She emerged, laughing at the surge of adrenalin that makes a mock of danger. |
We also have RENTERS Insurance
| Our back room has been pierced by one falling limb – and then it
has cushioned the fall of two more limbs that were larger. In the
front five big limbs have fallen on the house, and one on the
neighbor's carport from our tree, and one swung way out and fell on
the ground. That huge pine tree in the front is groaning miserably
beneath its private load of ice. If it falls, when it falls, the
slant of the tree virtually dictates it will come crashing down
between our two houses, with wide limbs flailing at both houses on
the way down.
One Bishop friend of mine challenged his ward to live on what
they had at home for the next thirty days. “Turn off your
electricity, turn off your gas, lock up the keys to your cars, and
survive.” In just a matter of hours there was a squall of
frustration. Man was not meant to live without electric power and
other luxuries,” they cried. This day without lights or gas has been instructive and
constantly reminds me how addicted we are to our luxuries. Numerous
times I have walked into a dark room and automatically flip the
light switch. Ah, no power, I think. Then automatically turn on the
range to heat some water for a hot cuppa, and it hits me again. “No
power, remember?” That is amusing enough, but what is my next move?
I start to put the cup into the microwave so I can heat it up. DUH!
Okay, let's turn on the TV and see what the weather channel says is
coming up. Oh, FOOT! Well, I'll turn on the computer and – that
won't work. Okay, but I have a portable computer.. Well, so I do,
but I can't get on line, because DSL only works when the electricity
is on. |
the end
About the author: Lin Stone is the author of
33 books, numerous articles
and does PR work too, but only for friends.
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