After several days without water, Frederick residents are back to normal following a massive winter weather event that created havoc over the entire state.
“It was a difficult time but thanks to the patience of Frederick residents and the surrounding communities that we serve it went smoothly. Everyone has water now,” City Manager Lee Littrell said Wednesday morning. “The issues have been resolved.”
Earlier in the week, Frederick public works crews were busy installing a new motor on the city’s water pump and repairing another leak in a major valve. At that point, the water system wasn’t even pumping 500 gallons a minute.
Normally, “we should be at 1,300 gallons a minute,” Littrell said Monday.
During the winter weather, Frederick residents had water, but the city had requested them to conserve as much as possible by not doing laundry or operating dishwashers.
Frederick was able to make the water system repairs when Comanche Nation Entertainment donated $7,900 for the purchase of the city’s water pump. In addition, the city received 16 pallets of bottled water donated by state legislators Trey Caldwell and Chris Kidd, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole and Southwest Ledger. Frederick also received four pallets from the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, a 5,000-gallon tank of water from Grandfield and another 2,000-gallon tank from Lupi Construction of Lawton.
“People were able to bring jugs and fill them up,” Littrell said.
The city manager said Frederick will seek reimbursement for its disaster-related expenses from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). Littrell said that process could take several months.
Temperatures dropped to minus 12 degrees in some parts of the state last week coupled with as much as a foot of snow in some areas. The freezing conditions were the worst in Oklahoma in decades, meteorologists said.
Meanwhile in Altus, crews were forced to repair a major break between Tom Steed Lake and the city. Despite having lower water pressure, all residents kept their water on, City Manager Gary Jones said.
“We had hundreds of people with leaks in their homes, and we did send out conservation notices on Sunday,” he said. “About six to eight hours later, we had more water come into the system.”
Jones predicted all leaks in the city’s water system should be repaired this week.
Duncan’s Public Works Director Buddy Hokit said residents maintained water service despite main breaks and lower water pressure.
“We’re still having some main breaks, but the tank levels are back to normal,” he said Wednesday. “It’s been unbelievable. You just don’t prepare for something like that.”
Public works crews stayed on the job for nearly two full days making repairs before the city hired a contractor to supply them with several workers.
“When we got started, our guys worked as much as possible, but they were so exhausted we decided to call the contractor,” Hokit said.
Duncan will also seek FEMA assistance to divert the cost of the repairs and contractor.
In Lawton, residents were not without water, but numerous water breaks occurred, according to an incident log provided by city spokeswoman Tiffany Vrska.
Public utilities teams reported on Feb. 23 that all water tanks had been replenished and significant emergency repairs to large lines at Flower Mound and running through Fort Sill had been completed. The log shows small leaks still needed repairs and crews are working to identify and remedy those leaks that are on city service lines.
On Feb. 22, significant water pressure issues were addressed across the city as the demand for water created a substantial number of private line breaks, which was a major contributor of low pressure. At the time, city officials wrote on a public forum that the “patience and support of the community” was appreciated as crews working through the devastation caused by the historic winter storm.
Lawton residents are still encouraged to report water line breaks or concerns to the water department at (580) 581-3419.