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« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2007, 12:55:36 pm » |
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Federal disaster declaration issued for two Oklahoma counties
By Tim Talley
Associated Press Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY - President Bush issued a federal disaster declaration on Saturday for Oklahoma, a move that frees federal funds to aid two counties in the state ravaged by recent flooding.
The declaration came as hopes remained that relatively dry weekend forecast may help stave off flooding in the Red River Valley area in southern Oklahoma and aid residents in northern Oklahoma as they continue to assess and clean up flood damage.
The two counties named in the federal disaster declaration are Ottawa and Washington in northeastern Oklahoma, although the declaration notes that more counties could be added to the list as damage surveys are completed.
Lake Texoma, which straddles the border between Oklahoma and Texas along the Red River near Durant, stood about an inch below the top of a 640-foot-high concrete spillway, Ross Adkins, spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Tulsa District, said Friday.
"It's lapping over the spillway now," Adkins said. The lake, with a normal level of 619 feet, is expected to crest about six inches higher than the spillway on Monday, when up to 3,000 cubic feet of water a second will be diverted into the Red River, Adkins said.
National Weather Service forecasts call for a 20 to 30 percent chance of storms on Saturday and Sunday, forecaster Erin Maxwell said early Saturday.
"The activity over the weekend probably wouldn't impact Lake Texoma levels too dramatically, but there's another low pressure system coming next week," Maxwell said.
"That's just the way the weather pattern has been this year."
The Corps is already pumping an estimated 27,000 cubic feet per second of water into the Red River to help steady the lake's level. Water levels in the river have fallen following heavy rains that swelled it and other streams.
"The downstream conditions are now permitting us to start putting water in," Adkins said. Lake Texoma is fed by a watershed that stretches across southern Oklahoma and into the Texas Panhandle.
The Corps said there is no danger to an earthen dam near the spillway that stands 30 feet higher at 670 feet. The spillway, which has been used three times since construction was completed in 1944, was designed to divert water when lake levels rise.
"It's performing exactly as it was designed to do," Adkins said.
Meanwhile, rain-free days have revealed millions of dollars in flood damage to homes and businesses in northeastern Oklahoma.
Flood warnings remained in effect for the Arkansas River at Muskogee; the Caney River at Collinsville and Ramona; the Neosho River near Commerce; the Verdigris River near Lenapah and the Deep Fork River near Beggs.
Mike Spurgeon, city manager in hard-hit Miami, said water levels were falling about one inch an hour on Friday and should dissipate completely on Saturday, Spurgeon said. The river stood at 23.6 feet early Saturday _ more than 8 feet above its 15-foot flood stage. It's expected to fall below flood stage early Sunday.
"There's still water in homes. There are some areas where people can start going back in," Spurgeon said.
Flooding also canceled classes at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, where water entered several buildings including the maintenance department, art museum, a gymnasium and the football field house as well as dormitories, a cafeteria and campus apartments, campus officials said.
Extensive flooding also occurred on the college's softball, baseball and football fields. The two-year college said classes are expected to resume on Monday.
Floodwaters have damaged between 500 and 600 structures in the Ottawa County city, and the preliminary damage estimates are in the millions of dollars, Spurgeon said.
The issuing of the federal disaster declaration means that Ottawa County residents affected by the flooding can receive assistance including grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.
Forecasters said the Verdigris River stood at 33.5 feet early Saturday, more than three feet above its 30-foot flood stage. It should fall below flood stage by Saturday evening.
Also, federal and state environmental officials raced to soak up the remnants of a massive crude oil spill in the Verdigris River as they completed work on an 1,800-foot absorbent boom north of Lake Oologah, a major drinking water source for Tulsa.
The Environmental Protection Agency was installing the last 900-foot span of an 1,800-foot boom across the Verdigris to soak up the remnants of the spill at a refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., on Sunday, said EPA spokesman Dave Bary.
The boom, installed along the river near U.S. Highway 60 a few miles north of Lake Oologah, is equipped with an absorbent material to soak up oil on the river's surface, Bary said.
"There is of course a visible sheen on the river," Bary said. The spill also left an oily smell and oil deposits are visible along the banks of the Verdigris near South Coffeyville, Okla., just south of the Kansas border.
The Environmental Protection Agency now says the spill amounted to 71,000 gallons of crude oil _ far more than the 42,000 gallons originally reported. The spill was caused by a malfunction while the refinery shut down before the flooding along the Verdigris River.
The EPA said Friday night in a press release that two floodwater samples from Coffeyville showed high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. The tests showed the level of the bacteria was more than 130 times the standard and that the bacteria can cause stomach-ache, fever, vomiting and diarrhea, the agency said.
Bary said the EPA is working with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to keep oil out of Lake Oologah.
Bob Brownwood, manager of Tulsa's water supply, said the city pulls about half of its water from the lake. Brownwood said the city's water intake pipes are on the opposite side of the lake from the Verdigris' ingress and the chance the oil will affect Tulsa's water were very remote.
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