Rising Water Shuts Down Highway

The thunderstorm on Wednesday caused flooding in West Tulsa. The water got close to homes and even crossed the interstate near 5300 South Union.

The News On 6's Emory Bryan reports the water dropped back to normal within a couple of hours of the rain. It's not an uncommon problem to have some flooding in this part of town where a small creek sometimes handles a lot of water.

There was briefly a raging river behind some homes on the west side, not far from I-44. Willis Johnson lives right there and says it's not the first time.

"It happens whenever we get a hard rain in a short order of time," said Johnson.

The rain fell too fast to drain without backing up. The high water from Mooser Creek blocked Union Avenue. It wasn't enough to stop a trucker with this massive wind tower. He made it through.

It was enough to disable a car on the I-44 access road, where the highway patrol shut down the eastbound lanes of the interstate for a half hour.

Most of the traffic was detoured, but some at the temporary shoreline had to wait it out.

"This water was moving out of the creek nearby at a fast rate and anybody walking or especially in a vehicle could have easily been swept into a bad situation," said TFD Captain Michael Baker.

Further west, the fast moving water undermined a bridge on Wekiwa Road. One end of it dropped a foot and it was in danger of collapsing.

There was better news at Williams Auction, where the water came to the door and stopped.

"Pretty much the creek comes out of its banks and gives us a pretty good flood, both on I-44 and in our parking lot," said Bo Williams of the Williams Auction.

The problem for most of the area was Mooser Creek, which is normally just a small stream. The heavy rain made it run higher and faster, causing concern, but no significant damage before it drained away almost as quickly as it rose.