Army Corps of Engineers Still Facing Issues From 2019 Flooding

The Army Corps of Engineers is working every day to fix the damage left behind, four months after devastating flooding in Green Country.

This damage has closed or at least partially closed several popular recreational spots.

The Army Corps of Engineers says some of the parks around lakes were underwater for up to 70 days, because of that there is still a lot to clean up and damage to fix to make sure the parks are as safe as possible.

"It was the worst flood I've seen of my career. I've worked 28 years with the corps,” says Jeff Knack with the Army Corps of Engineers. The amount and magnitude of the damage is what's taking so long."

Flooding caused severe damage to some of northeast Oklahoma's most popular recreational spots.

The Corps says they're working as fast as they can, but it will take time to get the parks back to normal.

"Some of it is going to be safety-related,” says Knack. “The roads just aren't safe for travel, the campsites just aren't safe to park an RV on, just because of the degradation of the base."

Jeff Knack says with driftwood hanging in trees, unstable roads, and sidewalks, plus erosion, it's not worth risking people's safety.

"A lot of it is because of road damage,” says Knack. “Road damage is tough. It's financially a very expensive repair. We've got to get those repaired because you can't ask someone to pull a vehicle, pulling a trailer down a road that is no longer usable."

Knack says, flooding also destroyed bathrooms, electric outlets and security gates.

"Specifically like electrical outlets, people use to plug their RV in, they are just completely damaged because they were underwater so long,” says Knack.

Knack says it takes time, help, and money to make the repairs, which will last all winter.

He says they plan to have most of the parks fully open by next spring, but for a full list of the parks that are open now, you can go to the Tulsa District Army Corps of Engineers website.