Heavy rain fell on south and southwest Oklahoma, up through central Oklahoma and into the Tulsa area today, where rainfall amounts ranged from an inch and a half in most places to 2 inches in south central Oklahoma to more than 4 inches at Altus, Ringling and Waurika to 6 inches at Madill to the 11 inches at Burneyville, which shares a boundary with the more populated Falconhead Resort.
The wind has caused problems as well, hitting hardest in south-central Oklahoma, where a 65 mph gust at the Ada airport that damaged a hanger, three or four barns and a home. A guest estimated at 70 mph blew out a window at a Healdton school, causing minor injuries to students.
Areas south of a line from Elk City to Ardmore are under a severe thunderstorm watch. Areas south of a line from Lawton to Ardmore are under a flood warning. The Alva and Woodward area also is under a flood warning, and all of eastern Oklahoma is under a flash flood watch.
The weather contributed to at least one death today. A Lawton woman died early Wednesday when her car hydroplaned on the H.E. Bailey Turnpike near Walters.
No tornadoes were reported.
Rainfall
"Our yard has quite a bit of standing water in it, and it has to rain quite a bit for us to get standing water because we're up on a hill," said Mary Becan, a resident of Falconhead Resort which shares a boundary with Burneyville in Love County.
Her husband, John, works at Love Field in Dallas. He stopped in Marrietta on the way home and was told the town of Leon was just about under water.
"They were telling me a whole bunch of farms are under water in Leon, and cars are being washed off roads," John Becan said.
Since a Mesonet site was installed two miles southeast of Burneyville 15 years ago, the most rain it has recorded in a month was 12.01 inches in June 2004.
On Wednesday, that site had measured 11.63 inches by 8:15 p.m. and was still going up. The site's previous high for one day was 6.62 inches on April 28, 2006.
Leon resident Sierra Lee said it's the most water she's seen in her 16 years there.
"We have a little bridge down here. It's probably never been over three or four inches and the water is knee deep, and it snapped a bridge in half," she said.
John Becan said the main line that feeds the Falconhead water tower was washed out.
"What's left in the tower is all we're going to get, and that's been contaminated already because of the feed line," he said.
Other areas with significant rainfall included Altus, with 4.33 inches at 10 p.m., Waurika with 4.12 inches, Ringling with 4.48 inches and Madill with 6.64 inches.
Officials reported rainfall rates in excess of two inches per hour with the heaviest thunderstorms and warned that excessive runoff would cause flooding of small creeks and streams, country roads and farmland along the banks of waterways.
"That's been the focus today — the very heavy rains this morning and the flooding that went on across southern Oklahoma," said Rick Smith, a weather service meteorologist. "If we had our way, we'd like to spread this heavy rainfall out over days or weeks. It's unfortunate when it comes all at once."
A flash flood watch remained in effect until 7 a.m. today as a chance for more thunderstorms was expected overnight.
"With so much rain that's already fell in that area, it's not going to take much to cause runoff problems," Smith said.
In northwestern Oklahoma, flood warnings have been issued for the Cimarron River near Waynoka and Buffalo through the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service. Minor flooding is possible with rain expected to continue off and on through the end of the week.
In northeastern Oklahoma, flood warnings are also active through the end of the week on the Neosho River near Commerce and the Verdigris River near Commerce, Lenapah.
Localized street flooding, most of which had receded by early afternoon, was reported in Duncan, Frederick, Mountain Park, Snyder and Waurika, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.
Winds
High winds blew out a window at Healdton Elementary School, leaving three students with cuts and scrapes. None of the students' injuries were serious enough to require being taken to a medical facility, Carter County sheriff's dispatcher Linda Shepard said.
Also in Healdton, winds gusting to an estimated 70 mph damaged power and telephone lines, toppled trees and a cell phone tower, Carter County Emergency Management Director Ed Reed said.
Traffic
In the Oklahoma City area, Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers responded to four crashes with injuries and 45 non-injury reports along the interstates during a six-hour stretch Wednesday morning.
Floodwater two to three feet deep in places closed N. Ann Arbor Ave. between NW 5th and Reno Avenues for several hours in Wednesday.
"I was driving through before they had the signs up, and my car stalled," said Greg Faulkner. He called a tow truck.
At least seven cars were reported stranded by flooding on Lindsey Street in Norman, an area notorious for flooding.
Forecast
Storms are in the state's forecast through the end of the week. Some areas that already received an abundance of rain will continue to get heavy rainfall Thursday, and flooding problems are expected to worsen as the day goes on in southwestern Oklahoma, forecasters said. The area expected to be hardest-hit is between Wichita Falls, Texas, and Lawton eastward to Ardmore and Durant.
Some hail and damaging winds are also possible with the storms, but heavy rains in areas already saturated are the main threat to area residents, according to the weather service.
Rainfall totals
Top rainfall totals at Mesonet sites for the 24-hour period ending 11 p.m. Wednesday.
31° 