`Serious threat'
River claims homes in Logan County
CIMARRON CITY — Floodwaters destroyed five houses Wednesday in Twin Lakes community, volunteer firefighter Lori Dahlem said.
“It became a serious threat, a much more serious threat this morning,” Dahlem said.
In the gated community near Cimarron City, three houses were moved off their foundations, and the other two were halfway underwater. Three houses were occupied, and those families evacuated earlier in the day.
Waters have been rising in the area since Monday, eroding at least 50 to 60 feet of riverbank.
“At this point, the river is cresting,” Dahlem said. However, rains to the west could add to the flooding problems.
Logan County Sheriff Damon Devereaux said deputies asked people to voluntarily
evacuate the Twin Lakes homes. There are about 20 homes in the addition. Several other houses were about to fall into the river or were partly in the water in the addition, Devereaux said.
“Unfortunately, this has happened before in Twin Lakes, sadly,” Devereaux said.
The homes are in an area that has been susceptible to erosion near the Cimarron River over the years, he said. In the 1980s, the homes were built about 200 yards from the river's edge. But the course of the river changed. Heavy rains in northwest Oklahoma in recent days have swollen the river, Deveraux said.
Deveraux said a resident in the area said there used to be hundreds of feet that separated homes from the banks of the river, but erosion in the last few decades has swallowed what were once fields and backyards.
Describing the community of Twin Lakes as very small, Deveraux said residents are “tight-knit” and are taking care of each other during this trying time.
Meanwhile, in Payne County, a woman who drove around a high water warning sign drowned in floodwaters in Payne County on Tuesday afternoon when the vehicle was swept off the road, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.
Her death is the first one related to widespread flooding across the state since Monday.
Heavy rains late Monday and Tuesday flooded areas of Payne County, and floodwaters shut down Perkins Road near Perkins.
Laura Renee Moorman, 53, of Perkins, was northbound on Perkins Road when she drove around a high water sign about 4:50 p.m. just south of State Highway 33, and just south of Perkins city limits, the patrol reported. Water swept the vehicle off the east side of the road where it went into about 10 feet of water. Moorman was underwater for about 45 minutes before she was recovered by Stillwater firefighters.
The weather was clear and rains had stopped along the twolane, asphalt road at the time she drove into the water, the patrol reported.
In Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, a driver went off Lincoln Boulevard and into a canal with water at Riversport Drive near the Interstate 35 overpass, firefighters said. A man is in critical condition after being rescued by firefighters.
Emergency workers made numerous rescues in central and southwest Oklahoma due to floodwaters stranding motorists and people in homes. People are urged not to drive into high water. More rain is possible in central Oklahoma through Friday, the National Weather Service reported.
Most counties in the state remain under a state of emergency due to flooding and storm damage from thunderstorms and recent tornadoes.