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"Oklahomans flee as oily flood closes in"
updated 7:44 p.m. EDT, Tue July 3, 2007
" MIAMI, Oklahoma (AP) -- Hundreds of residents fled their northeastern Oklahoma homes Tuesday with all they could carry as floodwaters pushed downstream, and one river carried an oil slick toward a large reservoir that supplies water to several cities.
An estimated 42,000 gallons of thick crude oil that spilled from a Kansas refinery on Sunday floated with mud and debris down the Verdigris River, coating everything it touched with a slimy, smelly layer of goo.
The slick wasn't expected to have an effect on water supply intakes located well below the surface Oklahoma's Oologah Lake, about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa, said Skylar McElhaney, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
The oil joins other causes of misery for thousands affected by flooding in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Torrential downpours led to fast-rising water early Tuesday in East Texas, prompting a couple of people to be rescued from water-logged vehicles.
A 70-year-old man was swept off the top of a car into floodwaters. Heheld onto a tree for about four hours before being rescued by game wardens, said Richard Hill, Hunt County's emergency management coordinator.
No homes were flooded, Hill said Tuesday afternoon.
"We have had probably a good four hours of no rain, and the water is receding," he said. "Right now it's OK, but of course the forecast is for more torrential downpours tonight."
In northeast Oklahoma, the rain-swollen Neosho River spilled over its banks, forcing at least 300 Miami residents to evacuate and flooding buildings and apartments at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, where classes were canceled for the rest of the week.
"We never anticipated this," said Denia Payton, as family members pulled kitchen cabinets and a dishwasher from her home.
"I don't have no flood insurance," Payton said as the floodwaters lapped into her garage. "Whatever's left here is gone."
The river, swollen from heavy rains earlier in the week upstream in southeast Kansas, was scheduled to crest around midnight at 31 feet, more than 15 feet above flood stage, said Miami City Manager Mike Spurgeon.
No injuries were reported, but Spurgeon said another 200 to 300 homes may have to be evacuated before the water recedes.
Utility crews disconnected electricity on entire blocks to prevent the possibility of fire, and additional chlorine was added to the city's water supply to prevent contamination.
"We've sent our fire department out to the areas where we anticipate the worst flooding to be," Spurgeon said. "There's those that just have a difficult time leaving. It's a very personal deal with a lot of emotion involved."
At least 50 people were evacuated by boat Tuesday from a rural community in western Missouri as floodwaters streaming in from neighboring Kansas submerged roads leading to the town.
Bates County Emergency Management Director Tim Young said most residents in and around the small community of Papinville were leaving after the nearby Osage and Marais des Cygnes rivers flooded.
"About half a mile outside town is where the water starts. Most of the roads in town are covered in water, so we've got houses as islands and we've got boats kind of wandering through to pick people up and provide assistance," Young said.
Evacuees included one family outside town with 10 dogs, all of whom were brought out by boat, Young said.
In Kansas, the Verdigris River had crested and was beginning to recede Tuesday at Coffeyville, but it was kept high by water being released from the Elk City and Fall River Toronto Lake reservoirs upstream, said Jim Miller, Montgomery County emergency manager.
"It's going to come down the Verdigris until they shut that water supply off," he said. "So it's just a matter of time."
Environmental officials were planning to conduct water sampling where the oil slick made its way.
"As of right now, we don't have a full assessment of the extent of the contamination," said Dave Bary, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas. "Quite a bit of it remains on the surface and is visible." "
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/03/flooding.ap/index.html
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