Flooding Closes Several Nowata County Roads

By Craig Day, The News On 6

NOWATA COUNTY -- Heavy rain has pounded Oklahoma, washing out some roads and sending creeks and rivers over their banks.

In Nowata County, six inches of rain is causing some flooding problems.

Just a few miles east of Lenapah in northern Nowata County, water is flowing a foot deep across Highway 10. It's deep enough to cause trouble for drivers.

"We got a lot of rain, a lot of water and it got real swift, our small streams and creeks, they went out first," said Doug Sonenberg, Nowata County Emergency Management.

The Verdigris River, which is nearby, is just shy of 30-feet deep, which is flood stage. That caused Cedar Creek to overflow and back up over the highway.

"There were times it was raining so hard, you couldn't see to travel down the highway. It was bad," said Doug Sonenberg.

County emergency management director Doug Sonenberg says a handful of other county roads in Nowata County are also closed. He's keeping an eye on the Verdigris River.

"The next 12 to 14 hours are going to be real crucial for us, they need to really keep an eye on the weather and the water itself," said Doug Sonenberg.

Flood forecasters say the river is expected to drop steadily over the weekend and should be back to normal by Monday, which is when we have our next chance for rain.

In other parts of Green Country, volunteers filled sandbags to prevent two homes from flooding in Vinita near Big Cabin Creek. Also, one home flooded overnight Friday in McAlester.

SKYNEWS 6 got a bird's eye view of the water.

Near the Verdigris River, you can see the tributaries are pretty full. Water is into the tree line along a lot of that area.

A little further east near Pryor, you can see water standing in some fields. The ground is so saturated in many places that there is no place for the water to go from the heavy rains.

At the Pensacola Dam between Disney and Langley, the Grand River Dam Authority opened nine gates to keep water levels stable. Those areas have had three to six inches of rain in the last two days.

10/9/2009  Related Story: Heavy Rains Flood Roads, Threaten Homes In Eastern Oklahoma