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May 8, 2008

Owalla bridge closed

By TOM FINK



Rotating clouds, heavy rains and storm sirens early around 8 p.m. Wednesday night had some Rogers County residents running for shelter. But, Emergency Management said there are no reports of damage this morning.

Earlier Wednesday, Commissioner Dan DeLozier made the decision to close a 1940s WPA project bridge on Owalla Road, after earlier rains caused the culvert to collapse.

“We had some (storm) spotters out and they confirmed cloud rotations in the Inola and Verdigris area, as well as near the Will Rogers Turnpike gate and Rogers State University,” Bob Anderson, Rogers County emergency management director, said.

“The storm itself was so unpredictable, dropping things in and out, rotations developing and dying out,” he said. “This was the same storm that caused some damage in and near the Broken Arrow area. And last night, it was headed our way, so we were on the alert most of the night.”

Because of the nature of the storm’s energy, Anderson’s office, in conjunction with the City of Claremore, made the decision to sound the tornado sirens as a precaution.

“We had some minor flooding reported, but those waters had largely receded by this morning,” Anderson said. “North of town, near Akin road in particular saw high waters, but we’d gotten no reports of anyone being stranded from them and we’re expecting those (waters) to recede fully this morning or by mid-day.”

Rains from a fast-tracking storm system dumped another 2.5-to-3 inches of water across Rogers County Wednesday making it necessary to close the county bridge on old Highway 88, northwest of Claremore.

Rain gauge reports from Claremore Lake show nearly 13 inches of rain since April 1 have fallen over the area. The total for the past eight days has been 3.42 inches.

The closed bridge is located between EW 46 and EW 45 north of Claremore in the Oologah School District.

DeLozier said he was ordering a new box culvert to replace the old one, but repairs would not be complete before next week.

City of Claremore Utilities Director Tim Miller said his office received no reports of power outages related to the storms, although a power pole in the 600 block of West 8th Street in Claremore was damaged earlier in the day when struck by a motorist.

Anderson said Claremore and Rogers County officers working together helped keep his office abreast of the changing weather patterns, which would have aided in the savings of lives, had tornadoes developed and touched down.

“It was a highly unpredictable storm, with information about it changing by the minute,” Anderson said. “Everyone feeding us information — the Rogers County Sheriff’s Department, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, our (storm) spotters, and others — did an excellent job keeping us advised.”



By TOM FINK

Staff Writer

maned@swbell.net

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