| Updated: 9/28/2009 2:08 pm |
Published: 9/22/2009 4:18 pm
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People all across Green Country are drying out. Monday’s storms brought down as much as 5 inches of rain in some areas. When storms are in the forecast, people who live along Adams Creek in Wagoner County cringe. Fox 23’s Douglas Clark takes a look at the flooding problem there.
Shortly after going to bed, Larry Wilson, who lives next to Adams Creek in Wagoner County, got a phone call.
“One of my neighbor’s woke me up last night and told me my truck was underwater,” says Wilson.
The person who called Larry was his neighbor, Steve Marx.
“The creek actually circles us right here,” says Marx.
He didn’t sleep much, worrying about how high the water would rise. He admits he was lucky.
“This storm didn’t get in the barn,” he says.
But it has before. He also worries about an electrical transformer that sits on the edge of the creek and what would happen if he needed help.
“As soon as the roads are covered, you can’t get out. And EMS services can’t get in. And as soon as that happens, we’re more or less stranded,” says Marx.
The water Monday night was several feet above the Midway Street bridge. Debris is part of the problem. Another is recent development, which has brought more run-off.
“Right now the county is engaged in a study of Adams Creek, to figure out what’s going on and how we can prevent and mitigate this type of flooding and any future flooding,” says Wagoner County Emergency Management Director Jason Scott.
For now, residents have only two choices:
“Deal with it or move,” says Larry Wilson.
Residents along Adams Creek have petitioned local, state, and federal officials for help getting it cleaned out. They’ve even removed some of the debris themselves. They’re now waiting on a federal grant to come through.
