City of Tulsa prepared even though snow never came

Tulsa's forecast hinted at a storybook white Christmas, but the snow never came on Tuesday. But the City of Tulsa's street maintenance department was ready for the storm if it had come.

"We had all our equipment, it was all loaded and fueled up and ready in case there was a major storm coming in," Leon Kragel, Operations Manager for the City of Tulsa Street Maintenance Department, said.

While many Tulsans were let down by the lack of snow, Kragel and his crew were relieved they got to spend at least part of Christmas at home with their families.

"Well, everybody wants to be home, but what we do is we put everybody on a call basis so they have to be answering their phones," Kragel said. "And if they get called then they proceed with their work."

Fortunately, most of the roughly 170 people who could have been called never were.

But plenty of them still put some time in familiarizing themselves with their plowing routes just in case.

While there was now snow to plow, there were sporadic patches of ice on the roads.

"If they come across a slick spot they're coming back and getting material to treat that at this time," Kragel said.

Since the snow never came, Kragel and his crew viewed Tuesday as a great practice run for next time, if and when Tulsa does get snow.

"We didn't have any major problems," Kragel said. "There's always a few minor things that arise, but with having some new employees at this time it's good that they get out there, they're able to drive a certain route and familiarize themselves."