Floodwaters Cause Problems For Oklahoma Vacation Plans

High water is drying up vacation plans for some Oklahoma families.

Our rainy weather is leading to a soggy start to the summer recreation season.

After two years of drought, the state now is getting too much water all at once.

Many lake levels are way above normal.

Four generations of Tommy Dyer's family have their RVs parked on his ranch near Tiawah.

They're all having fun, but the location wasn't their first choice.

Like they've done for decades, about a dozen relatives and their families all planned to spend time together at Fort Gibson Lake, but the Blue Bill campground was closed because of high water.

"We went for about 24 hours, set up everything and then whoops, the lake went up and we had to come home," Dyer said.

Fort Gibson Lake is 15 feet above normal, which has closed some campgrounds, limited access to some campsites and messed up the family's vacation they booked in January.

"Just spend time together and even though we live close together, that's just a special time to spend together at the lake," Kim Dyer said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Fort Gibson Lake, but it can only release so much to minimize downstream flooding.

In addition to water feeding into the lake from releases from Grand Lake and Hudson Lake, Fort Gibson Lake is also getting runoff from rainfall.

The lakes were built for flood control with recreation being an important, but secondary, use.

It's a tough balancing act for the corps.

For the Dyer's, the timing of the heavy rain couldn't have been worse. They're still determined to have a good time.

"You can't do nothing else but go forward and do the best you can, we're just fortunate we have a place we all can enjoy," Dyer said.

Kim Dyer added, "Half of us are camping out here and we're going to make the best of it."