In the Tulsa suburb of Sand Springs — among the first communities inundated when the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers started releasing more water from a dam upriver to control more severe flooding elsewhere — soggy couches and recliners and dumpsters full of carpet, drywall and insulation lined residential streets covered in silt deposited by floodwaters.
"We know there's going to be more of this — more severe, more devastating," O'Rourke said."We need to invest in communities now." On Saturday, President Donald Trump declared a major disaster in Oklahoma and made federal funding available to Muskogee, Tulsa and Wagoner counties, which have been hit by flooding, tornadoes and other storms. Across the state, officials said six people died and 118 were injured from the severe weather this spring.
Witt had previously warned the city could be inundated after the river on Friday made a 40-foot hole in a levee in Dardanelle, which is roughly 100 miles upstream from Little Rock. National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Cavanaugh said possible rain in Oklahoma would likely prolong flooding along the Arkansas River, though it probably wouldn't raise water levels higher than where they crested. Most areas will see the threat of major flooding subside within a few weeks, although the river will likely stay very high through June, Cavanaugh said.
Republican Oklahomans shouldn't expect any gov't help as their fellow Republicans keep blocking it. Trump is stealing disaster relief from FEMA for his useless wall.