Flooding recovery begins
Thunderstorms dump more than 5 inches of rain on OKC
Crews were at work Wednesday to repair a collapsed road and other damage left by a storm system that dumped more than 5 inches of rain across parts of the Oklahoma City metro area Tuesday night.
The heavy rain Tuesday puts Oklahoma City on track to break the record for the wettest August since records have been kept in 1890.
The National Weather Service in Norman reported 5.06 inches of rain Tuesday, according to the rain gauge located at Will Rogers World Airport in southwest Oklahoma City. In Norman, 3.75 inches of rain fell, meteorologists reported.
In Norman, pavement collapsed in the 4100 block of
W Main Street near Willoway Drive on a bridge over a creek in a residential area, police reported. That stretch of Main Street remained impassible Wednesday. City officials could offer no timetable Wednesday afternoon for when the road might be repaired.
In Oklahoma City, a house was struck by lightning Tuesday night in the 10200 block of Olde Tuscany Road near SW 104 and S MacArthur Boulevard. Another house was struck in the 13900 block of Kirkland Ridge near E Memorial Road and N Bryant Avenue, a fire department spokesman reported.
No injuries were reported.
Firefighters also helped people at a flooded house in the 1000 block of SW 53. Several people were
trapped briefly in a storm shelter at a home in the 300 block of SE 47 as heavy rain fell, but when firefighters arrived everyone had gotten out safely.
Setting records
Tuesday’s rainfall total in Oklahoma City broke a record for the most rain in the city on a day in August, the weather service reported. The previous record for a rainy August day was 4.62 inches of rain on August 11, 2008.
And the wettest August on record was in 2008.
With more rain possible Thursday, Oklahoma City could break the record for the most rain in the month of August, the Oklahoma Climatological reported.
The city has had 8.58 inches of rain this month with nearly half the month to go. The previous high total for August in Oklahoma City was 9.95 in 2008. The thirdwettest August was back in 1906 when Oklahoma City had 8.34 inches of rain, records show.
Tuesday, firefighters were called to assist 26 people stranded in vehicles in high water.
Heavy rains caused the shoulder of Interstate 44 to crack, creating a wide hole along the roadway in southwest Oklahoma City. Crews repaired the 4-foot-long and 3-footwide hole Wednesday on the westbound shoulder near SW 29.
There is a slight chance of rain Thursday in Oklahoma City with a high temperature near 88 degrees, the weather service reported. The high temperature Friday will be near 92 degrees with sunny skies. Survey