Emergency Managers In Oklahoma Stress Caution When Driving Across Flooded Roads

With all the heavy rain Thursday, rescuers had to pull dozens to safety after many failed to heed warnings not to drive in high water.

Heath Underwood with Wagoner County Emergency Management wishes people would stop risking their cars - and their lives driving through floodwater.

“The water got up too strong and too high," he said. “We had a rescue of two cars that were actually in the water down here.”

Underwood and his team used airboats to rescue about a dozen people in Coweta. Joe Cash lives in Coweta close to the flooding. He and his neighbors leapt into action when water levels rose.

“I’ve been out here for 20 years, and this is the fasted I’ve ever seen the water rise," he said.

“A lot of us barricaded the road with our own personal vehicles.”

Cash was hoping to prevent drivers from driving through fast-moving floodwaters covering a roadway. The Sand Springs Fire Department posted photos on Facebook of a water rescue they performed.

The department hopes the photos remind people that you never know the hidden dangers of standing or moving water. Experts say it only takes six inches of water to sweep away some cars - and that many of them will start to float in just a foot.