TULSA, Okla. — The 15-foot tall, 20-mile-long World War II-era levees west of downtown Tulsa were, as history has shown, not built for a modern Tulsa.
Tulsans certainly learned a lot about flood control needs after high waters killed 14 on Memorial Day 1984 and again in 2019, when the Arkansas River overflowed across the city - especially in west Tulsa where Robyn Caseboldt and Debbie Swift live.
- Previous coverage>>> Five Years Later: May 2019 Flooding
"Our yard backs up to the levee," Caseboldt told 2 News Oklahoma. "We had the National Guard come station right there. They had a pump that they pumped water out of."
WATCH: West Tulsa Levees construction plan updated
But almost seven years after the last disastrous flooding and 18 months after becoming fully funded from the federal and state governments under Pres. Biden and Gov. Stitt, respectively, levee modernization work remains without construction.
"The reason why that (schedule) has expanded out is because this takes a lot of time," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District's lead hydrologist Taft Price said. "It takes a lot of planning, it takes a lot of engineering, and then you have to talk about the actual real estate itself."
The Corps of Engineers led a public presentation updating the public on the construction plan on April 30 inside The Common Good's Northwest Tulsa Hub.
The new start date of Phase One at Levees A and B is late 2027 lasting through 2035. The final phase is expected to be complete by 2041.
However, Price said neighbors won't wait as long for the most serious spots.
"The plan is we're going to start in sections," he said. "We're going to start with the areas that are the most dangerous, the ones that are the highest at risk, which will be in the Bigheart area of Levee A and also the Terwilliger levee of Levee B."
- WATCH IN FULL: Taft Price answers on West Tulsa Levees construction plan
FULL VIDEO: US Army Corps of Engineers levee modernization plans.mp4
With more than 10,000 lives and billions of dollars-worth of property at risk, Swift and Caseboldt said they'll be patient.
"I'm glad it's finally happening. Yeah, we need it done real bad."
Click here to find more information about the Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee Safety Project.
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