Storm causes flooding, prompts boat rescues
Storm causes flooding, prompts boat rescues

Comments 0

Staff Reports

Published: June 9, 2008

A slow-moving front that stalled over Oklahoma this morning left as much as four inches of rain in some places and prompted boat rescues near Bartlesville.

An apartment complex in Bartlesville was evacuated about 5 a.m., said Kary Cox, emergency manager in Washington County.

Residents at another apartment complex near Dewey were also evacuated this morning.

Cary said both areas are sometimes prone to flooding, but the nearly five inches of rain Washington County has received made it worse. A man in a home near Oglesby had to be rescued by boat this morning. Cox said the home was surrounded by fast-moving water, and two boat crews went in to rescue the man.

Flooding around Bartlesville was expected to continue into the evening, according to the National Weather Service.

"It's been the heavy, localized rainfall that's caused all the problems," Cox said.

More than a dozen counties were under flood advisories near Tulsa and in far northeastern Oklahoma.

In Claremore, 4.61 inches of rain fell in nearly 12 hours, said Pete Snyder, with the National Weather Service in Tulsa.

Ralston in Osage County got 4.37 inches and Lenapah in Nowata County got 4.25 inches.

In Garfield County, water had closed roads near Lahoma after Turkey Creek overflowed, said Mike Honigsberg, director of emergency management.

Lightning had damaged wheat fields causing fires that were eventually put out by rain, Honigsberg said.

Showers were expected to taper off by afternoon and overnight lows were expected to be in the 60s, Snyder said.

The slow-moving rainstorm was a break from fierce winds that had battered much of the state for the past week. Wind speeds last week were as high as 80 mph in some parts of the state, causing damages and power outages. Strong storms in the Oklahoma City metro area left about 3,000 customers without power, according to OG&E.