US Plains Suffer Yet More Flooding
Pastor Dale Morgan
US Plains Suffer Yet More Flooding*
By MURRAY EVANS,
Associated Press Writer AP - Wednesday, July 11
OKLAHOMA CITY - Strong thunderstorms brought more flooding to an already
soaked state Tuesday, causing some damage and leading to the closure of
several highways.
Forecasters warned of the potential for storms through the rest of the
week. On Tuesday, the bad weather began firing up in southeastern
Oklahoma in the late afternoon, with one producing winds of 67 mph.
Severe weather on the Plains dropped more than rain, including a tornado
in North Dakota that injured four people near Shield on Monday evening.
High winds in the Fargo area knocked out power to more than 6,000
people, toppling trees and power lines.
Back in Oklahoma, the roof was blown off an office building in Eufaula
as a tornado or straight-line winds blew through. In Muskogee County,
the roof of a church was blown off, and several houses were damaged.
The level of a privately owned lake in Norman has risen high enough to
begin eroding an earthen berm, releasing water into low-lying, heavily
wooded areas, said Dave Grizzle, the city's emergency management
coordinator.
No homes were in danger of flooding, but some might lose access to
outside roads.
At least one family and some animals in Newcastle, southwest of Oklahoma
City, had to evacuate Tuesday morning because of high waters caused by
about 4 inches of overnight rain.
Farther south, the main road in and out of Washington, Okla., was closed
because of a flooded creek. Four families evacuated, emergency officials
said.
More than 13,000 electricity customers statewide lost power, although
nearly all had had service restored by Tuesday afternoon.
In Texas, storms also caused some flooding, stranding motorists in high
water, police said. A round of strong storms moved through North Texas
on Tuesday evening, leading to flash flood warnings.