Thunderstorms Damage Wagoner Co. Roads This Week

By Craig Day, The News On 6

WAGONER COUNTY -- Green Country will feel the effects of Monday's thunderstorms for some time. Not only were homes flooded and cars swamped, the heavy rain also took a toll on some northeastern Oklahoma rural roads.

9/22/2009  Related Story: Flash Flooding Strands Tulsa Area Motorists

A Wagoner County road near Tullahassee is a good example of the kind of damage caused when storms dump a lot of rain in a short amount of time. Too much water washed out around a culvert, opening a 12-foot sinkhole.

Wagoner County Commissioner Jim Hargrove says when it rains like it did a couple of days ago, county commissioners cringe.

"We just sit there and wait on calls to find out which roads we're going to have to go fix," said Jim Hargrove, Wagoner County Commissioner.

Hargrove says there are several other washouts like that one scattered across his district alone.

Further west in Wagoner County, crews are working to replace a huge chunk of concrete on a water-damaged bridge near 305th East Avenue, just south of 91st.

"It just sort of rolled around on one edge and loosened up one side that concretes onto it," said Tom Vincent, Wagoner County Commissioner.

District One Commissioner Tom Vincent says all things considered, it could be worse.

It could take several weeks to fix problems that took mother nature only a couple of hours to create.

"It takes a while to put everything back together," said Jim Hargrove, Wagoner County Commissioner.