Rain turns deadly, halts wheat harvest
Rain turns deadly, halts state wheat harvest

By Hailey Branson

Published: June 10, 2008

A slow-moving front that stalled over Oklahoma is to blame for one death and several water rescues. In some counties, more than 4 inches of rain fell, while the Panhandle remained bone dry.

Mary Ola Goodson, 84, of Lamar died after the pickup she was driving left the road and turned on its side in heavy rain, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. Goodson was driving west on U.S. 270 a mile east of Wewoka in Seminole County about 7:25 a.m. when her pickup left the right side of the road and overturned onto its passenger side. Goodson was partially ejected and pinned inside the pickup for more than an hour and a half, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.

Nearly 20 counties were under a flood advisory. Most of the advisories were in the eastern half of the state and along Interstate 40, according to the National Weather Service.

In Claremore, 4.61 inches of rain fell during the 12-hour-period ending at 11 a.m. Monday, said Pete Snyder of the National Weather Service in Tulsa.

Ralston in Osage County got 4.37 inches, and Lenapah in Nowata County got 4.25 inches. The Oklahoma Mesonet reported that the rain collection site near Byars received nearly 4.77 inches of rain since midnight Sunday.

An area of Pontotoc County got nearly 5 inches of rain, said Chad Letellier, the county's emergency manager.

"We had two businesses get minor flooding damage,” Letellier said. "Luckily it's been dry here for a while. All the ponds and dams weren't full, so all that runoff could go in there.”

East of Salina, floodwaters washed out Pumpback Road, which recently had been repaired after flooding in March created a large hole in the road, said John Janzen, Craig County emergency director.

Firefighters in Pryor retrieved one man from his vehicle Monday morning after his car flooded in deep road water.

In Garfield County, water had closed roads near Lahoma after Turkey Creek overflowed, said Mike Honigsberg, director of emergency management. Lightning damaged wheat fields, causing fires that were eventually put out by rain, Honigsberg said.

Heavy winds and storms halted wheat harvest Sunday afternoon along Interstate 40 as hail and high wind moved across the area, according to the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. The weather was expected to delay harvest as farmers waited for wheat fields to dry.

In the Panhandle, farmers and ranchers hoped for rain. While parts of Texas directly south of the Panhandle got rain, the storms passed the area by. "They didn't get an inch,” said Tabatha Tripp, with the National Weather Service in Amarillo.

Rising waters in northeastern counties forced evacuations and boat rescues, officials said.

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

Residents at another apartment complex near Dewey also were evacuated Monday morning, Cox said. She said both areas are prone to flooding, but nearly 5 inches of rain in Washington County made it worse.

A man near Oglesby was rescued by two boat crews after his house was surrounded by fast-moving water.

In Bartlesville, floodwaters were receding by mid-afternoon and the water in swollen creeks and rivers was not rising as fast as it had been earlier in the day.

Forecasts predicted that the Caney River would crest at 17 feet, 4 feet above flood stage, by Monday evening.

No other major weather-related problems were reported.

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

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