Oklahoma flooding victim says neighbors are ferrying supplies
Rebecca Smith says flooding in Braggs from the Arkansas River is worst in living memory.
A driver in Oklahoma who ignored barricades set up amid ongoing flooding ended up needing to be rescued on Wednesday after crashing into a sinkhole, according to officials.
The incident happened in the town Blackburn, located northwest along the Arkansas River where flooding has inundated communities for more than a week.
In a Facebook post, city officials said the man with a dog in the back of his truck drove around barricades and ended up crashed into a sinkhole.
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Officials posted photos of the crash, which showed the truck almost completely submerged, with a broken windshield and crumpled hood.
A driver in Oklahoma escaped without major injuries after going around roadblocks and crashing into a sinkhole, authorities said. (City of Blackburn)
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol told FOX23 the driver went around two sets of roadblocks before striking the sinkhole.
Damage to the vehicle can be seen after the driver went through roadblocks set up for flooding. (City of Blackburn)
The driver and the dog were rescued and not injured, city officials said.
The driver ended up in the sinkhole after driving through two sets of roadblocks. (City of Blackburn)
Northeastern Oklahoma has been besieged by floodwaters along the turbulent Arkansas River amid record rainfall. Emergency management officials in Tulsa said Saturday they are seeking volunteers wearing boots and heavy leather work gloves to help residents remove debris and clean up their flooded homes.
ARKANSAS CITY TRYING TO SAVE HOMES IN EFFORT TO STEM FLOW OF MASSIVE FLOODING
The National Weather Service said Friday the river's level at Tulsa has dropped almost 4 feet from Wednesday's crest and will continue to recede through the weekend.
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FEMA Region VI administrator Tony Robinson says they are working with local emergency management offices to provide assistance for destructive flooding.
River levels were also dropping in Muskogee, Okla., about 45 miles southeast of Tulsa, according to forecasters.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said a hydroelectric dam at a reservoir northwest of Tulsa has reduced flow as the reservoir drains floodwaters from recent heavy rainfall, aiding the river's decline.
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But officials are saying that they are not out of the woods yet. More rain is expected to begin Monday, adding more strain to a levee system that's already been tested by floodwaters.
“The real challenge is that, presented to us, we have levee system that is now weakened, having experienced an unprecedented rain on it which it has had over the past two weeks now,” Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum told Fox News on Friday. “And our lake that protects Tulsa from floodwaters is still about a foot above the flood pool it; doesn’t have the kind of storage capacity that it needs to protect our community from floodwaters.”
Fox News' Hollie McKay in Tulsa, Oklahoma and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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