Recent Rain Flooding Area Lakes

All that rain that's been falling the past couple of weeks has to go somewhere. So how are the area lakes doing? Oologah Lake is one of the quieter lakes as far as boaters and such. The water is a

Friday, June 15th 2007, 5:23 pm

By: News On 6

All that rain that's been falling the past couple of weeks has to go somewhere. So how are the area lakes doing? Oologah Lake is one of the quieter lakes as far as boaters and such. The water is a different story. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports it roars through the conduits and spillways at 240,000 gallons per second.

Carl Garrett says he hasn't seen it like this in years.

"They opened it in 2000 and then twice this year," Garrett said.

Garrett says when he's not working, he's fishing, and he likes the raging rapids.

"It's selfish right now. I like it for fishing down here. I hate if for the lake. The lake's dangerous right now," Garrett said.

The first time they opened the spillway, it was open for three days. This time it's been open since Tuesday, and it's still going.

"Actually for Oologah that is unusual, we haven't done that for some time," said Ross Adkins of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Adkins says they usually don't have to open the gates at Oologah once per year, much less twice just a few weeks apart. But there's plenty of room left in the lake. They've only used 39% of their capacity. Actually, he says Keystone has been filling up more.

"The one we're watching the closest is Keystone because it's actually going to go a little above,â€ Adkins said. â€œI believe it's about 45% above capacity, and we are making some releases out now."

Right now the rapids are only fit for the fish.

The water from Keystone is headed for Muskogee, where they've had some minor flooding, but the Corps says it will take several hours for the water to get there, so they should be okay.

Watch the video: Flood Gates Open At Lake Oologah