Storms causing flooding and one death

<br>DUNCAN, Okla. (AP) _ Heavy rains turned roads into streams, flooded buildings and caused at least one fatal traffic crash. <br><br>In Stephens County, officials awoke before dawn Sunday to try to save

Tuesday, April 9th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DUNCAN, Okla. (AP) _ Heavy rains turned roads into streams, flooded buildings and caused at least one fatal traffic crash.

In Stephens County, officials awoke before dawn Sunday to try to save records and computer equipment in the flooded courthouse. The rising water destroyed items in the county extension office.

Many workers showed up to clean up the water.

``They saved a lot of things,'' said Lynne Beam, a 4-H educator. ``We had the 4-H photo contest laying out on the floor, and they got those up. We've had to throw away stuff.''

Some computer equipment might have been destroyed, officials said.

Northwestern Oklahoma, where wheat farmers desperately needed moisture, generally received less than an inch of rain.

Wheat growers in the central and southwestern Oklahoma got between one and two inches of rain.

``For those folks, it was probably a million-dollar rain,'' said Scott Bulling, Oklahoma Farm Bureau crop program manager.

The northwestern part of the state has received less than half its normal rainfall since Oct. 1. Parts of the Panhandle have received less than 25 percent of the normal amount.

A steady pattern of rain with cooler temperatures will help crop conditions improve much in western Oklahoma, Bulling said.

``A lot of our wheat is in poor condition,'' he said. ``Some can still make a crop if we shove spring back.''

In McAlester, the rains closed highways and county roads. The 4.45 inches of rain that fell at McAlester Regional Airport set a new record for April 7.

Latimer County in southeast Oklahoma was under a flash flood warning Monday. The National Weather Service warned motorists not to drive into flowing water.

Many parts of the state got up to 6 inches of rain. Antlers recorded the most rainfall with 6.26 inches reported in the Pushmataha County town from midnight Saturday to 11 p.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

In Canadian County, a 24-year-old Oklahoma City woman was killed when the car she was riding in lost control on Interstate 40, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. The car spun and was hit by another vehicle, killing Stephanie Russell, the patrol said.