Emergency Management Crews Assess Flood Damage In Okmulgee

Crews in Okmulgee have a long road ahead of them after inches of rain dumped across the county, flooding roads and trapping people in their cars and homes. The water has gone down, but many roads are ruined and people can't get through.

Emergency management crews said this flooding is something they have never seen before. With rain surging overnight, powerful floodwaters washed out parts of major roads like Old Morris Highway in Okmulgee. Crews estimate about 10 inches fell in just a couple hours.

"There's a lot of road damage," said Tim Craighton. "There is a tremendous amount of water unseen in a lifetime.” Director of Emergency Management Tim Craighton said all that rain wreaked havoc on homeowners and drivers.

He said crews across the county did more than 50 rescues, the rising water forcing many people to evacuate their homes and get to hotels or motels. “You really can't describe it, to see that kind of water," said Craighton. "We thought we had history making last year.”

Donald Lang was one of the dozens of people stuck in the mess. He said he was getting a ride home from a friend Thursday morning when currents swept away the pickup they were in, trapping them for hours.

“The water was so high it lifted the truck and drifted us off to the side of the creek," said Lang. “It was just a current, it was strong, and it kept us from going forward.”

Now that waters have come down, Craighton said his crews are going to start assessing damage to homes and roads, and that could take weeks or months. “We need to be extremely cautious because culverts are gone, we can't even get to those roads at this point," Craighton said.

However, he said he’s thankful there were no serious injuries. Craighton said they have to wait until everything dries a bit more before they can start working, and he wants to continue to urge people to never drive through water, even if its just a few inches.