Thousands remain without power and A/C after storm

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — It's another day without electricity and air conditioning for thousands of Oklahomans. Crews are remaining busy as they work to restore power knocked out from Tuesday night's storms.

Many people are coming up with other ways to stay cool in the summer heat, including using cold towels.

"I really had the shirt, just to make me a fan," said Crystal Burris, who lives in SE OKC.

"We had to buy ice constantly. We have to keep going outside, charging the phones in the car," said Sheree Milton who also lives in SE OKC.

Now, they're bearing the hot temperatures as the wait for power goes on.

"Last night was like the first time being very uncomfortable sleeping without no AC," said Burris.

For some, this isn't the first time they've been without power after a storm which leaves them wondering when the lights will come back.

"I've been here about 45 years. We've been having the same problem, you know, storm days," said Jimmy Rolfe who lives in SE OKC.

"We're always frustrated, but, you know, we're just little people here," said Milton.

During the wait, Milton's family took matters into their own hands by clearing part of a tree that usually affects their power lines.

In northeast Oklahoma City, power is also still out.

One neighbor says Wednesday night crews were working when she saw huge sparks in the air.

"[There] was a big boom explosion, just like the 4th of July. It was awful," said Diane Williams-Simpson who lives in NE OKC.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department confirmed a transformer blew and caught a tree while crews were making repairs. They said no one was injured.

OG&E outage maps show thousands of people are still in the dark as of Thursday afternoon, but crews said they're still working around the clock to make repairs.

"We've restored 76% of our customer count that that we lost the other night due to this event. You know, we have, you know, it's about 12,000 customers that we still have yet to energize," said Chad Guthrie, the director of Distribution Construction Operations at OG&E.

OG&E said most places in the metro will not have power back until sometime on Friday.