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Pipe bursting cold snap over

Wind chills dip below zero late last week

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A near record-breaking cold snap that featured Siberian Air and significant winds caused havoc for residents with frozen pipes and for plumbers.

The frigid air swept down the plains about 6 a.m. Central Oklahoma time backed by fierce winds that topped 50 mph in gusts.

That brought wind chills to dangerous levels.

Local plumber Robert Bebout said he had 10 calls for frozen pipes before 9 a.m. Friday and that number grew to at least 30 before the freezing temperatures began to mellow.

“People don’t realize they need to drip the hot water along with the cold,” Bebout said. “They need to keep the water from stabilizing, especially in mobile homes.”

Bebout said all of the customers he had with frozen pipes had failed to drip their faucets.

“And don’t just drip one facet,” Bebout said. “Drip them all over the house.”

Purcell Plumber Joel Staggs reported to The Purcell Register his staff did not respond to any frozen pipes but said the Village on the Green had six units flood.

“They had to shut the entire fire system down until it was inspected,” Staggs said.

Purcell Firefighters responded to the retirement village, according to Staggs.

Officially, the low last Thursday was 4 with a windchill of -16. The high that day was 13. The range was from 10 to 21 on Friday before temperatures moderated somewhat on Christmas Eve to a high of 35 but still the low was 16.

On Christmas last Sunday the high was nearly 50.

The low Monday night was 19 but temperatures were forecast to be highs in the 60s later on this week.

Fortunately, there was no precipitation with the system and there were no power outages.

Lexington did have a power outage for several hours last Friday morning.

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