By John Dobberstein, Editor
Five people were killed, including 2 in Wagoner County, after thunderstorms dropped several inches of rain on Oklahoma over the weekend, causing widespread flooding.
The Wagoner County Sheriff’s Department and a host of local searched along Highway 64, east of Leonard near Snake Creek, Sunday night and Monday and found the bodies of a mother and daughter, authorities said. The driver of a minivan attempted to drive across a low-water bridge last Sunday and the vehicle took on water, KRJH reported.
The family was able to get out of the vehicle and head for land, but mother and child were swept away.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Muscogee Nation Lighthorse Police Department’s Drone Response Team, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department, Tulsa Police Department helicopter unit and Bixby police and fire departments are assisting at the scene.
In Moore, two more people were killed Saturday when their vehicle was swept off the road into a drainage ditch at about 9 p.m., police said. The bodies of Erika Lott, 44, and her 12-year-old son Rivers Bond, were found several hours later. Police said one other person inside the vehicle made it out safely. Bond was a six-grade student at Apple Creek Elementary, the school confirmed.
Hughes County Emergency Management officials on Sunday confirmed 1 person died after a tornado touched down late Saturday night on the west side of Spaulding, about 95 miles south of Tulsa. One other person was injured during the tornado.
In Broken Arrow, there were not widespread flooding events reported in most areas, although some neighborhoods in Wagoner County, and especially toward Coweta, had a rough go of it.
A portion of 337th East Avenue near the Muskogee Turnpike overpass was washed out Sunday, blocking residents from returning to their neighborhood Sunday afternoon on the dead-end street.
Margie Akehurst reported E. 101st Street S. between the roundabout and the Creek Turnpike was also flooded. Rae Heath said 101st Street at Oneta Road, which was recently rebuild, had caved in due to the flood water.
Penney Camper said all the runoff from the last rain a couple of weeks ago blocked the drainage ditches with branches, leaves and trash, so this weekend’s rain flooded 273rd East Avenue S. in several places, “and the ditches are even more full,” she said.
Lynne Martinez of Broken Arrow shared a video of floods ongoing this afternoon at 71st Street and Oneta as well (see screenshot below).
In the Southfork Estates neighborhood of Broken Arrow, where residents complained last week about flood waters inundating their neighborhood, silt fencing installed on the project site appeared to reduce the flooding issues as compared to the muddy runoff that entered a couple of weeks earlier.
Rainfall totals varied across Tulsa and Wagoner Counties, with 5-6 inches of rain falling in the Broken Arrow area, with lesser amounts of 2-3 inches west and north of the city.
Leave a Reply