OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The State of Oklahoma has requested a federal government Major Disaster Declaration following the devastating ice storm that hit Oklahoma on Oct. 26.

The following 13 counties are included in the request: Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Dewey, Grady, Kingfisher, Kiowa, Logan, Noble, Oklahoma, Payne, Pottawatomie, and Roger Mills, according to a news release issued from Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office.

The designation, if approved, would deliver federal funds to help municipalities, counties, tribes and rural electric cooperatives with debris removal, infrastructure repairs and other costs concerning storm response, according to the news release.

The ice storm either destroyed or damaged trees across the state, knocked out power to over 500,000 OG&E customers and caused millions of dollars in damage for local municipalities and tribes.

The storm caused an estimated $27 million in debris removal and other damages in the above 13 counties. Damage assessments are ongoing, according to the news release.

“The combination of three days of freezing rain and an early fall time period made this ice storm especially destructive to a large portion of our state,” said Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Mark Gower. “We hope that the federal government will act quickly and approve Governor Stitt’s request so our hard-hit communities can begin to recover some of the extensive costs associated with responding to this significant winter storm.

FEMA policies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic required that damage assessments be conducted virtually by state and local emergency management using photos, videos, measurements and GPS data. Those assessments then had to be validated manually by FEMA Region 6 in Texas, according to the news release.

The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security developed an online tool to make the assessments as efficient as possible for both the users and FEMA officials, the news release states.

“I commend the dozens of city and county emergency managers and ODEMHS staff who have worked tirelessly to collect and enter more than 1,000 damage reports in order to make the case for federal assistance,” Stitt said. “I urge the federal government to quickly approve this declaration to speed up our recovery.”

Stitt said the state will request additional counties be added to the Major Disaster Declaration in the coming weeks.

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