Flooding resulting in road closures means a temporary change in emergency service providers in some areas of Rogers County.

Three sections of Rogers County roadways are affected. On the west side of the county, Keetonville Road and Highway 20 at Keetonville Hill are closed.

In the east, a small bridge on the Rogers-Mayes county line road has been downgraded to 1-ton capacity.

These damaged roads are limiting the ability of emergency vehicles to respond to county residents in affected areas.

Inspection by District 2 Commissioner Mike Helm and ODOT engineer Shannon Sheffert revealed that Keetonville Road is continuing to collapse. Helm is concerned about two power line poles that could fall if movement continues. An exposed gas line is also a potential hazard. Helm said he is talking with Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative and Oklahoma Natural Gas to resolve safety concerns.

County commissioners met with emergency responders Monday afternoon to coordinate new response routes. Responders from Claremore, Verdigris, Northwest, Limestone, Catoosa, Tiawah, Tri District and Pafford worked out a strategy in a special session. Jackie Custer of Oologah-Talala Emergency Medical and Matt Mueller of Claremore also attended.

“We’ve got some concerns for emergency situations,” Emergency Management Director Bob Anderson told the Board of Commissioners.

Cracks, sliding, and rolling resulting in fallen sections of roadway due to undercutting by flood waters resulted in closure of Highway 20 at Keetonville Hill in District 2, the county road known as Keetonville Road also in D2 and in the downgrading of the Rogers-Mayes county line road NS 4250 in District 3.

Commissioner Dan DeLozier said all of District 1 is open and passable.

The closures and downgrade mean large trucks cannot pass on normal routes. Repairs on some of the projects could take months and incoming 911 calls from affected areas must be rerouted to avoid delayed response times.

At least two homes are isolated due to closure of Highway 20 at Keetonville Hill. Helm said he anticipated that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation would try to build a way to reach those homes from the backside leading from Rattlesnake Road. Barring that, he said D2 might have to do the work.

In an extended Board of Commissioners meeting, local emergency responders, Anderson, and E911 Coordinator Susie Rains worked out a plan to cover areas by the quickest response routes currently available.

Claremore Fire Department will cover much of an area west of Highway 20 once covered by Limestone Fire Protection District prior to the closing of the Highway at Keetonville. Northwest Fire District will be the secondary backup in that area and will continue to cover the north side of 20.

In the case of Keetonville Road, Limestone officials said they would continue primary coverage with Verdigris Fire Department providing backup on the south side.

Tri District has plotted a different response route to an area in D3 off 4250 Road. A small bridge was reduced to a one-ton limit on that road and Commissioner Kirt Thacker told emergency responders heavy trucks could not safely cross it.

Rains said she would adjust 911 addresses to reflect any changes in primary responders.

Chief David Puckett of Northwest Fire said these changes would save 4-6 minutes in response times which could mean the difference in saving a life or keeping a house from burning down.

Phillip Cherry of Pafford EMS said they would still cover most of the affected areas from various stations and that Owasso will cover the area to the top of Keetonville Hill. Owasso was unable to attend the meeting.

Commissioners declared the county in a state of emergency on advice of District Attorney Gene Haynes.

“Under the circumstances state statutes allows the district attorney to waive competitive bidding pertaining to the disaster,” said Haynes. He said the measure would allow county road crews to make repairs more quickly.

Helm said he closed the stretch of Keetonville Road Thursday morning. The area is 4 1/2 miles south of Highway 20. Damage at a culvert where sections of the roadway have cracked and fallen are similar to damage experienced on Highway 20 in the same flood event Thursday. Undercurrents of water due to underground springs, rain drainage, or both have undercut the roadway along an eroded stretch of the Verdigris River.

The area is near the old Bogey Creek Bridge, long since closed, and entire sections of the old roadway leading from that bridge have fallen away.

Last year, Helm was awarded a County Improvement for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) grant to improve Keetonville Road, but the improvements are not coming quickly enough. He laid additional asphalt in an attempt to stop cracking along the road to no avail.

Helm and Sheffert spent much of Monday afternoon studying the damage and discussing ideas for temporary repairs to get the road open until the money comes through from the CIRB grant for full scale upgrade.

Local landowner Larry Helton walked down and looked over the area with Helm and Sheffert. Helton owns and lives on the hill overlooking the affected area. He said he has access to his home.

Helton told Helm he had seen vehicles bypassing initial road closed signs and driving across the dangerous area. Helm later put poles into the ground to prevent motorists from trying to bypass road closed signs.

The area is extremely dangerous according to Helm and Sheffert who agreed the roadway is still cracking and shifting.

Shiffert said the seeming similarity between the damage to Keetonville Road and Highway 20 was a "coincidence related to the river and the weather." He described the area as a "slippage plane." He estimated it would cost ONG $100,000 to move gas lines in the roadway easement if that became necessary.