Severe Weather Wakes Up Eastern Oklahoma

Severe weather slams Green Country on Tuesday. News On 6's Joshua Brakhage reports places got as much as three and a half inches of rain, and saw winds up to 70 mph.

Between the sirens and the lightning, Green Country knew it was in for a rough night. A cold front moving across the state stirred up the storms and woke a number of people up early Tuesday. 

In Tulsa, heavy rain flooded streets and stranded motorists.  Hail from pea size to golf ball size pounded many communities from Mannford to Wagoner.  News On 6 WARN units were out all night long, following the storms as well. 

PSO spokesperson Stan Whiteford said 8,000 customers lost power in the Tulsa area early Tuesday after the storms moved through.

Power was restored to about half of those customers by 9:30 a.m., and the other half were expected to have their power on by Tuesday evening. 

About 500 Oklahoma Gas & Electric customers were also without power with more than 250 of those around Sapulpa and the remainder in the Fort Smith, Arkansas area.

Lightning sparked a couple of house fires overnight.  The first one was called in just before midnight at a home in the 13000 block of East 27^th Street in Tulsa . Fire officials say a man in the house was jolted out of bed by the loud noise and smoke.  A lightning strike damaged the gutters and an interior wall but no one was hurt.

In Broken Arrow and Sand Springs, high water closed several roads and flooded several subdivisions early Tuesday. 

The Tulsa Fire Department responded to a Jeep as part of a water rescue call.  

"Just do not drive your car into high water. Just turn around and go another direction. It's certainly not worth the risk," said Tulsa Fire Captain Larry Bowles.

When they arrived, they found the Jeep on its side in the middle of creek with water about half-way up.  Fire officials are not sure how the Jeep ended up in the water.  No one was in the Jeep, but crews checked the water to make sure there were no victims.  

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office says the Jeep had been reported stolen.

Find more stories on NewsOn6.com's Local News page.