FORT SILL – Several buildings and more than 300 homes at Fort Sill were damaged in last week’s Arctic weather, but recovery was relatively swift, Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Russell R. Blackwell said Tuesday.
Blackwell took time out from his duties to discuss how the Army post handled the numerous issues that sub-freezing temperatures and several inches of snow created and ongoing cleanup efforts.
Record low temperatures for several days caused “significant challenges” at Fort Sill, he said.
“We have more than 300 homes that were damaged,” most if not all by frozen or burst water lines. Initially about 76 families were displaced and Fort Sill offered to put them up temporarily in local hotels. Ten families chose to remain in their homes, 46 returned to their homes, and 20 others remained in local hotels, Blackwell said Tuesday.
They expect repairs to continue for the next 60-90 days, Blackwell said.
Water buffaloes, tanks for transporting fresh water, were made available to displaced families, he said.
Within 24 hours the post’s Directorate of Public Works and Corvias, the post housing contractor, “were out making repairs and assessing damage,” Blackwell said. Water and electric service were soon restored throughout the base, Blackwell said Tuesday.
“We’ve called in nearly 100 restoration experts [plumbers, electricians, sheetrock specialists, etc.] to help get residents in their homes after pipes burst, and we are cleaning up several buildings that also were affected,” said Marie Pihulic, Fort Sill Garrison public affairs officer.
Among those was the Welcome Center, a high-traffic building where several services are provided. It sustained water damage last Thursday but was able to reopen later that day “thanks to the fast work from Fort Sill firefighters and the Directorate of Public Works,” Pihulic said.
McNair Hall, the post headquarters building where the commanding general offices, also received water damage “but it didn’t affect any work areas,” she said.
A fire-suppression pipe in the ceiling of the storage room at the School Age Center froze and burst last Thursday evening, unleashing a torrent of water. The ruptured pipe activated an alarm that alerted the Fort Sill Fire Department, which responded within minutes and shut off the water, Blackwell said.
Nevertheless, water poured into at least two hallways and the gymnasium to a depth of 2 to 3 inches and was “flowing out the front door” by the time the firefighters arrived, School Age Center Director Traci Carter said. DPW opened the center’s doors “to let the water out,” she said.
The building was cleaned up, the water pipe was repaired, and the center reopened Tuesday. Recovery efforts from the flooding proved to be an unplanned “team-building exercise,” she said.
The center is a before-school and after-school childcare center for youngsters in grades 1 through 5, Carter said. Parents drop off their children at the center in the mornings, and from there the children are transported to school. After classes dismiss for the day the students return to the center, where their parents pick them up in the afternoon.
The center accommodates about 80 children on a typical day, Carter said. Monday was the only day of school the children missed, she said.
All homes and buildings throughout the post will be inspected for mold by industrial hygienists from Reynolds Army Health Clinic, Blackwell said.
Despite the frigid temperatures last week, the Post Exchange and the Commissary remained open and so did medical facilities, Blackwell said. The post gymnasium was available if needed as a temporary residence for displaced soldiers or families, “but it wasn’t,” he added.
The “freak” ice storm last October taught post personnel how to handle cold weather, “so we were far better prepared this time.”
There were some “momentary” issues in soldiers’ barracks but “no major issues,” he said.
Training of soldiers was “shut down” because of the cold weather, but only for a brief period, he said.
No cost estimate on damages was available Tuesday, Blackwell said.
As of Tuesday morning, “All facilities at Fort Sill are operational,” he said. “They may not be 100% but they’re operational.”
Blackwell, who was stationed at Fort Sill in 1996-99 and returned in October 2019, said, “I never before saw anything like this here.” Carter, a Pennsylvania native who has been in Oklahoma for three years, had a similar reaction.