Tulsa River Parks Back Open After Flooding, With Exceptions

Now that the water has gone down, things are slowly getting back to normal in the recreation areas along the Arkansas River, with some exceptions.

"If you see logs, or barricades or cones, we certainly would ask trail users to be cautious of that,” said Matt Meyer, director of the River Parks Authority.

Meyer says the parks and trails on the east side of the river are now back open. Just a few days ago, parts of the trail system were covered with water.

"There are some mud areas so we had three or four areas that were like sand bars two or three feet deep,” said Meyer.

That also created some structural issues. Two large sinkholes opened up, and crews worked to fill one of them Monday.

Other small sinkholes have been reported on other parts of the trail.

"We have areas where the rivers encroached on the trail and we got to get some bank stabilization done,” he said.

Meyer says staff and volunteers have done a good job of helping clean up, but there is still some work to be done. Especially on the west side of the river, where Meyer is encouraging people to stay away.

"Simply because we haven't had the engineering evaluations of those,” he said.

Electricians have examined other parts of the park and are keeping the lighting off because water got into electrical boxes, meaning it's not recommended to go to the parks at night.

Meyer says the main thing, just be smart and safe.

"We're working hard. We have limited resources but our staff is working around the clock,” he said.

Meyer is still looking for volunteers to help clean up. You can sign up to volunteer here.