In Sand Springs, a Tulsa suburb on the Arkansas River with a population of 20,000, dozens of homes and streets in a low-lying area were submerged in several feet of water, with floodwaters rising nearly to the roofline of some homes.
The city, about eight miles west of downtown Tulsa and the closest to the Keystone Dam, has been one of the hardest-hit communities from this week’s flooding. In aerial photos published by The Tulsa World, only the tops of many homes, trailers and vehicles were visible in the muddy waters. Sand Springs officials said 152 homes had flooded.
Early Friday afternoon, in a riverfront community called Candlestick Beach, houses were dry — for now. Neighbors stood in the streets or in their driveways, preparing, watching and waiting. Sandbags were piled up outside garages and front doors, and along swimming pools. The mood was somber, but not overly so. One resident tied fishing lines to a tree across the street as the water rose, hoping to catch some catfish.
Nearby, about two blocks from the river, Christopher Berreth had a U-Haul truck packed with his belongings ready to go. His father-in-law had arrived to take his children, but Mr. Berreth was staying put.
“We don’t plan to leave at this point, but if they say we have to, then we will,” Mr. Berreth said.
For local officials, the main concern was the state of the earthen levee system that is decades old.
“So far, the levee system has performed well,” the mayor of Sand Springs, Jim Spoon, said in a statement. “Our community is anxious however to get through this holiday weekend as we watch the levee being put to the test, handling near record river flows.”
