Flood protection activist dies

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Carol Sue Williams, credited as a driving force behind disaster prevention in Tulsa, has died of cancer. <br><br>Williams, a longtime city employee and a catalyst behind the city's

Friday, May 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Carol Sue Williams, credited as a driving force behind disaster prevention in Tulsa, has died of cancer.

Williams, a longtime city employee and a catalyst behind the city's Mingo Creek flood protection project, died Thursday. She was 58.

"Every day we are putting into practice the lessons taught us by visionary local leaders like Carol Williams," said James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "The lessons we learned together -- and her kind of indomitable spirit --will endure far into the future, helping to create a safer and more livable world for future generations."

In Tulsa, Williams led an effort begun in 1974 in her flooded living room to create flood protection for east-side resident along Mingo Creek.

The group soon became a skilled lobbying group.

The city completed the $140 million Mingo Creek Local Flood Control Project last year. It includes 10 miles of channels.

A 4.5-acre lake on the site where her house and neighborhood flooded repeatedly will be called Carol's Pond in her honor. The lake is part of the storm water management basin. '

Williams was a founding member of FEMA's Project Impact: Building Disaster-Resistant Communities.