Emergency declared in Eastern Oklahoma; Dealing with flooding

Eastern Oklahoma is soggy and in some places flooded because of the large amount of rain we have seen in the past five days.  Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency in 11 counties because of tornadoes, flooding and wind damage.  Some areas saw between 10 to 13 inches of rain.

One of the areas with flooding problems is the Illinois River.  It flowed out of its banks and that river feeds in to Lake Tenkiller.  Now, the lake is high and expected to top out at 33 feet above normal.

"The marina operators have had a tremendous dock problem trying to move their docks.  It was coming up 5 inches an hour and that is a tremendous amount.  I don't think I have seen it come up that quick, I don't believe, that fast," says Paul Laney.  Laney lives on the lake near Cookson.

"They opened the flood gates the widest I have ever seen them, usually they open them a foot or so.  Of course we were lucky, Tulsa didn't get the water so the Arkansas River wasn't full and that did allow us to let the water out," says Laney.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing 13,700 cubic feet of water per second through the dam or enough water to fill an Olympic size swimming pool every 6.5 seconds.  “It roars.  It is like Niagara Falls.  It is a tremendous amount of water,” says Laney.

The Corps says the lake is expected to reach 33 feet above normal.  A spokesperson says it is not the highest the lake has ever been but would be in the top three or four lake levels.