$19.6 Million FEMA grant to address ooding at 43rd and Sheridan

TULSA, OK – Mayor G.T. Bynum, joined by FEMA Region 6 Mitigation Division Director Roosevelt Grant and Fire Chief Michael Baker, announced this week that Tulsa has been awarded a $19.6 million Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

This grant will enable Tulsa to improve the stormwater drainage in the Fulton Creek basin, where large amounts of rain cause 8ooding at East 43rd Street and South Sheridan Road.

“Nearly two years after Tulsa reached Class 1 status in the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System, we are not slowing down or resting on our accomplishments,” Bynum said. “Tulsa is continuing to work on stormwater and 8oodplain management programs. We have come a long way since our days of unmitigated disaster, but there is more work to do. Areas like the Fulton Creek basin continue to 8ood. This grant will help us continue the work that needs to be done for 8ood mitigation and heat reduction in Tulsa.”

The City of Tulsa has been awarded a nearly $19.6 million BRIC grant from FEMA, with the City contributing $6.5 million as a 25-percent funding match, totaling more than $26 million for the Fulton Creek Drainage Basin Urban Flood and Heat Reduction Project in the East 43rd Street and South Sheridan Road area and the downstream watershed.

The Fulton Creek drainage basin is a high priority for 8ood risk reduction in Tulsa. Reducing the risk in this fully developed urban area is complex. The storm sewers and ditches were constructed in the 1960s and are inadequate. This project will not only eliminate or reduce 8ooding in the mitigated area, but it will also reduce 8ooding for residents downstream.

Fulton Creek is part of the Mingo Creek watershed. The Fulton Creek basin was one of the areas 8ooded in the historic Memorial Day 8ood of 1984 and has remained a 8ood prone area since that time.

In addition to 8ooding, Tulsa also faces the major hazard of extreme heat. Historically, heat has caused more fatalities in Tulsa than any other hazard. Concrete and other impervious surfaces in urban environments contribute to local warming effects in a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect. This project will reduce the heat island effect over time. This project has a nature-based focus, including low impact development, increased tree canopy, reduced heat island effect, and reduced impervious area to help mitigate the stormwater issues in this area of Tulsa.