Locust Grove Residents Say Creek Spillover Is Becoming Too Common

Roads are clearing out hours after rain caused heavy flooding in Locust Grove.

Neighbors say this is the fifth time Murphy Creek has spilled over its banks in the past month. They say typically this rain is a welcomed relief, but not anymore.

The heavy sloshing of water circling in Murphy creek is getting way too common for people who live down highway 412, especially when it spills onto the road.

"It's just so hard to get around cause it's so muddy and wet… [The] only way you can get around [is] with a gate or something like that," says Locust Grove resident Mary Gann.

Gann says when the rain first began falling, and the road was shut down, fire crews stood guard to keep people away.

She says with the creek rising outside her door, she literally had to dig her way through the muck at times to get to her milk barn for her cows. 

“That bridge gets holes in it and you can't. The whole road goes under water, and so I come out through the railroad tracks and it was all under water too," she explained.

Mann says her street constantly faces the threat of flooding because of the creek, but she hasn't typically worried about it, until this year. "This makes six times in less than a month, and usually if we have six times in ten years it's normal, maybe once a year or something like that."

Oklahoma rain statistic shows the area has gotten quite a bit a rain. So far this month nearly ten inches of rain has fallen. This year, there's been 50 inches.

Gann says with summers typically so dry and hot, she begs for the rain, however with the damp still holding tight. "It could let up for a little while for sure,” she says.

Despite the washed out roads and excess rain, there haven't been any reports of injuries.