Flooding Spurs Boat Rescues in Oklahoma, Shuts Highways

Authorities used boats Saturday to evacuate at least 70 persons from their homes in Oklahoma, where rivers swelled by four consecutive days of rain ran over their banks, and high water closed interstate highways in Illinois and Missouri.

Flash-flood watches issued because of heavy rain extended over southeastern Missouri, much of Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana and northeastern Texas, the National Weather Service said. Other watches were posted for lower Michigan and parts of New York.

Flood warnings were issued over much of Indiana, where melting snow, caused by unseasonably warm temperatures, and rain filled many rivers and streams to overflow, the weather service said.

On Tops of Cars

In Skiatook, in northeastern Oklahoma, where storms brought more than five inches of rain Saturday, up to 30 persons were rescued from their homes and others were evacuated from the tops of their cars, police dispatcher Jim Alley said.

Floodwaters covered acres of pasture land, swept into as many as 50 homes and businesses and limited travel in the town of 3,500.

“I’d say we have $60,000 to $100,000 in damage at the minimum,” said Police Chief Walt Spurgeon, adding that boats were used in the evacuations.

At Bristow, southwest of Tulsa, about 40 families were evacuated from a mobile home park, authorities said. Elsewhere in the state, disaster workers evacuated residents from flooded homes and mobile homes in Miami, Bartlesville, Owasso and Dewey.

Barges Break Loose

At Stella, just east of Oklahoma City, more than seven inches of rain fell in the 24 hours ending Saturday morning, the weather service said. Meteorologists said that the rain was the hardest to hit the Tulsa area since May.

In Kansas City, seven barges broke loose on the rising Missouri River, forcing the closure of Interstate 435 and the Chouteau bridges for several hours.

Melting snow caused the Kankakee River in Illinois to overflow, forcing authorities to close a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 55 near Wilmington, state police said.