Even as floodwaters receded in some areas of eastern Oklahoma, two people have drowned in separate accidents after the area endured heavy, constant rainfall in recent days.
Several Oklahoma counties, mostly in the north and east, Monday remained under flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service and three others were under flood watches. Another was under a flash flood watch.
State Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten said the state's emergency operations center had returned to regular hours, even as it continues to maintain 24-hour contact with local and county emergency managers in areas affected by the flooding. Particularly hard-hit were the northeastern counties of Mayes, Rogers, Cherokee and Delaware.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported that a 49-year-old Pryor woman drowned Saturday night after driving her car past barriers placed in a flooded rural Mayes County roadway. Troopers say Kimberlyn Rae Kendrick went around the road-closed signs and into floodwaters and that her car was swept from the road. It was found completely submerged about 300 feet east of the roadway. Kendrick's body was recovered about 12:55 a.m. Sunday.
About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, 73-year-old Paul Cox of Broken Bow drowned in the Glover River in McCurtain County in far southeastern Oklahoma. Troopers say they were told by family members that Cox hadn't been seen since 6 p.m. on Saturday and that he had been drinking. Authorities said they detected an odor of alcoholic beverage on Cox's body. Cox's vehicle was found under a bridge, about 102 feet off the river's east shore.
Ooten said some roads remain closed Sunday because of high water. In Miami in Ottawa County, Steve Owens Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in the town, is closed, while State Highway 125 is closed at the fairgrounds and U.S. Highway 59 and State Highway 10 are closed at Coal Creek, about three miles west of town.
Near Copan in Washington County, State Highway 10 was closed both east and west of its junction with U.S. Highway 75. State Highway 28 is closed east of U.S. Highway 69 near Adair in Mayes County, while in northwestern Oklahoma, State Highway 8 between Aline in Alfalfa County and Cleo Springs in Major County is closed.
The National Weather Service issued or upgraded flood warnings on Sunday for the Poteau River near Panama in Le Flore County and the Illinois River near Watts in Adair County and Tahlequah in Cherokee County.
