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Record water levels release at Tenkiller Dam

Posted at 3:47 PM, Dec 29, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-29 19:34:54-05

Historic flooding along the Illinois River is forcing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release a record amount of water from the dam at Tenkiller Lake.

The view at the dam is incredible. People having been stopping by to see if for themselves all day.

The corps is releasing about 38 thousand cubic feet of water per second. The record set back in 1986 was 30 thousand.

2 Works For You received drone video shot by a viewer.  From the air you can see the power of the water coming from dam.

The Corps is primarily trying to flood its own property. However, with this much water needing to be released, private property has been affected.

There has been serious flooding downstream. Some livestock even had to be rescued from the rising water.

"There's a lot of folks impacted. We are trying to minimize the damage downstream from all our projects. We are trying to minimize the downstream effects as much as we can," says Col. Richard Pratt. 

One the areas hit hardest by the flooding is a resort near here called Marval. Dozens of campsites, trailers and cabins are underwater there today. It's a huge loss for that business that stays open all year round.

Even with this massive release of water here at the dam, there is still major flooding and damage at  Tenkiller Lake. 

 

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