MCALESTER, Okla. (ABP) — Jack Macy calls them “angels.” And 180 families agree with him.
Macy is referring to chainsaw teams deployed by Texas Baptist Men to help victims of severe ice storms in North Texas and Oklahoma. The teams, totaling more than 50 men, converged Jan. 31 on McAlester, Okla., and Pryor, Okla., to help residents dig out from the ice storm that claimed at least 32 lives.
The ice storm left 4,500 electric utility poles down and tens of thousands of residents without electricity for more than a week. More than 200 utility crews attempted to restore power. Red Cross volunteers came from as far away as New York to set up shelters, serve meals and aid storm victims.
“It's devastating,” said Red Cross volunteer Joy Merrick-Vogel. “It's something I've never seen before. What nature can do is just phenomenal. It's just miles and miles of ice.”
Nearly 4,000 area residents were treated at hospitals for weather-related injuries. Seventy-seven counties have been declared federal disaster areas. And Oklahoma's emergency operations center remains activated due to the extreme winter weather.
Still, Macy found something to be grateful for, calling the chainsaw teams “wonderful” groups that worked quickly and diligently.
Former Pryor fire chief David Harrison agreed.
“I think it's great,” Harrison said. “This is the worst ice storm I've seen in 29 years here. We've been without electricity for five days.”
Indeed, the entire community of McAlester lost electric power for days. Many elderly and impoverished residents struggled to stay warm and nourished.
To that end, the volunteers prepared thousands of meals for storm victims. They used an 18-wheeler feeding unit loaded with enough food to make 50,000 meals.
Chainsaw crew team leaders called the work some of the most dangerous and difficult they had seen. The men spend hours in chainsaw disaster training, wear protective chaps and gloves, and don recommended ear protection and hard hats to clear power lines, cut through buildings and repair roads. But that didn't necessarily prepare them for the job that was required of them in Oklahoma.
“This is our first time to do ice work,” volunteer Joe Detterman said. “My team does a lot of climbing. When you start climbing a tree with ice, it's a lot more difficult. The wood is brittle, and it breaks when you don't expect it or when you don't want it to.”
Texas Baptist Men is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
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