The water level continued rising and reached a crest of 22.8ft, slightly less than the historical maximum of 25.2ft recorded at Tulsa in May 1986. In Tulsa, water levels along the Arkansas River started to rise rapidly on 21 May, when the rainfall intensity peaked and flooding occurred two days later (Figure 3). (Data source: National Weather Service, 2019) Flooding along the Arkansas River in Oklahoma Initial reports estimate 15–20 inches (381–508mm) of rain has fallen across Oklahoma during May 2019, almost three times the average rainfall for the month, with five-day rainfall totals of 11 inches (279mm) recorded (McKay, 2019 Mitchell and Navarro, 2019) (Figure 2).įigure 2: Five-day rainfall totals across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas, from to. Kansas and Oklahoma were inundated due to prolonged periods of heavy rain (Lavandera, Grinberg and Yan, 2019). ![]() the highest crest height recorded at that gauge station in the past) (Data Source: National Weather Service, 2019). maximum potential river height due to the recent rainfall) and the previous historical maximum (i.e. Each bar graph represents a river gauge, illustrating the designated flood stage, crest height (i.e. The Arkansas River lies in northern Oklahoma, flowing through Tulsa and Fort Smith, whereas the Missouri River is further north and flows through Jefferson City (Missouri). Heavy rainfall associated with the tornadoes has contributed to many river gauges across the states affected (Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri) exceeding the flood stage, the river height at which flooding may occur, with some recording new maximum river heights (Figure 1) (National Weather Service, 2019).įigure 1: Many river gauges along the Arkansas and Missouri Rivers are at levels that constitute moderate or major flooding. As a result, around 50 million people were considered to be at risk from severe weather, including strong winds, hail and flash floods (Lavandera et al., 2019). ![]() On, 14 tornadoes swept through Oklahoma and Western Texas overnight, resulting in severe damage to businesses, properties and vehicles.
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