City Repairing 'Pothole Pandemic' In Tulsa

In the Tulsa area it can sometimes seem like there are hundreds, or thousands or even hundreds of thousands potholes. And, surprisingly, that might be right. The city of Tulsa has filled thousands since the first of the year, but the ones still out there are creating costly problems for drivers.

"I looked down and my tire light came on and at that second I knew man that's not good," said Owasso driver Michael Casey.

He said that potholes can be hard to miss in heavy traffic. He's torn up a couple of tires and bent the right front wheel in a couple of places.

According to Chris Shew with Firestone at 41st and Yale, one car was on the lift for new tires and a wheel.

"Fortunately she's only replacing a couple of tires and a wheel. Some this year we're replace control arms and bent struts spending a few thousand dollars on it," Shew said.

He said sometimes bent wheels can be fixed but the aluminum ones on many cars will often break and have to be replaced.

One video shows a Nissan hitting a pothole and losing both wheel covers on the passenger side. It was the most viewed video on our website on Wednesday with more than 1,500 views. That pothole's repaired now.

3/5/2014 Related Story: Watch: Driver Loses Two Hubcaps To Vicious Tulsa Pothole

The city's getting to them as fast as they can; more than 18,000 have been repaired since January. You can call 918-596-2100 to report potholes. The city said they'll fill them within a day or two.