Flood waters have overwhelmed northeast Oklahoma, closing many roads and leaving many residents and businesses without power, particularly in the Tulsa metro area. While the water has begun to drain and power has been restored to most, the region is expected to be hit hard by storms again.
"Our ground is saturated, so there's nothing that's going to be absorbed," said Mike Cahalen, public works director for the city of Coweta, Okla. "It's all going to be direct runoff."
Broken Bow Lake in the state's southeastern corner reached its highest recorded water level, 626 ft, resulting in flash floods locally.
Storm-producing energy spinning off a storm system in the western part of the U.S. "like a pinwheel" will spark storms along the warm air mass in Oklahoma, according to Forrest Mitchell of the National Weather Service.
Source: The Oklahoman
