5 dead after storm causes heavy rain, flooding across Oklahoma

<p>Authorities recovered the bodies of three women whose van was swept off a highway by rising floodwaters early Sunday, bringing to five the number of people that drowned after a tropical storm pounded the state with heavy rains that caused extensive flooding.</p><p>The bodies were found Sunday evening still inside the van, which was in a large pond about a quarter of a mile west of State Highway 58 near Carnegie, said Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Kera Philippi.</p><p>"There was rushing water on the roadway, about 3 feet deep, but on the surface it was calm," Philippi said. "There were two eyewitnesses that saw the vehicle get swept away."</p><p>The victims were identified as the wife, daughter and a niece of Kiowa Chief Billy Horse, said Richard Kauahquo, a member of the tribe's business committee.</p><p>Donita Horse, 76, Helen Rae Horse, 37, both of Carnegie, and Rose Saddleblanket, 17, of Americus, Ga., were driving from Lawton about 12:30 a.m. when their car was swept from the roadway, Philippi said.</p><p>A rural Fort Cobb woman was discovered drowned in her cellar shortly before noon Sunday after floodwaters inundated her home, said Caddo County Emergency Management Director Larry McDuffey.</p><p>"Evidently, she went to her cellar and the water overcame her and she couldn't get out," McDuffey said.</p><p>Also, Bernard Ward, 52, was discovered drowned about 14 miles west of Kingfisher after floodwaters knocked his vehicle from Highway 33, Kingfisher County Sheriff Dennis Banther said.</p><p>By late Sunday, the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin that caused the heavy rain had dissipated and pushed into eastern Oklahoma, but significant flooding was reported in Kingfisher, where about 100 residents were evacuated from their homes after the nearby Cimarron River flooded its banks.</p><p>"Out of its banks doesn't even cover it well enough," National Weather Service forecaster Daryl Williams said Sunday afternoon. "The Cimarron River tributaries that flow into the town of Kingfisher are just lakes right now."</p><p>News video showed an OHP helicopter plucking two people from floodwaters near Kingfisher after their vehicle was swept from a roadway. A woman fell from the helicopter into the water as she was being flown to safety, but Kingfisher County Sheriff Dennis Banther said she wasn't seriously injured.</p><p>At the peak of the storm early Sunday, about 25,000 customers of Oklahoma Gas and Electric, mostly in the Oklahoma City area, were without power, the utility reported.</p><p>Some injuries were reported in Blaine County, where heavy flooding damaged homes and buildings in Watonga and Geary, said Blaine County Emergency Management Director Janell Wood.</p><p>"We have significant property damage. We have at least one house I know of that was destroyed," Wood said. "There is a lot of flooding and power lines down, and we are working to get a shelter set up."</p><p>Heavy rainfall caused the roof of a nursing home in Geary to collapse, but there were no injuries reported and the residents were all transported to another nursing home in Hydro, Wood said.</p><p>News video showed mobile homes blown to pieces in Watonga and damage to a hangar and a small airplane at the Watonga airport, where an 82 mph wind gust was reported at 3 a.m. Water lapped at the foundations of houses in neighborhoods in the area. Damaged trees fell on homes.</p><p>At least two people suffered non-life threatening injuries after their mobile home was damaged by straight-line winds, emergency officials reported.</p><p>The entire town was without power early Sunday, Watonga Police Chief Gary Clyden said.</p><p>"It was quite a night," Clyden told television station KWTV-9. "This was a bad boy. The rain was straight horizontal, and the wind was just awesome."</p><p>In neighboring Caddo County, hundreds of people were evacuated from homes in Fort Cobb, Carnegie and Apache after the Washita River flooded its banks, McDuffey said.</p><p>"Residents are being advised to stay in their homes and stay off all county roads," McDuffey said. "We have numerous bridges and roads that are washed out. It's very, very dangerous."</p><p>Flood conditions forced the temporary closure of Interstate 40 near El Reno. Traffic was backed up for miles after a creek overflowed and sent water across the roadway.</p><p>"We just got the road back open," Capt. West said about 9:45 a.m. "I can't remember ever hearing of an interstate being shut down for six hours by a flood.</p><p>"You'd think Oklahoma was a Gulf Coast state and we just went through a hurricane or something."</p><p>Rainfall amounts exceeded 9 inches in some central Oklahoma communities as remnants of Tropical Storm Erin pushed through the area, according to the state Emergency Management Department.</p><p>The Greenfield Fire Department reported having more than 2 feet of water in its station.</p><p>Kiowa County emergency management officials reported damage from a possible tornado Saturday evening, Ooten said. A large barn was destroyed about 4 miles east-northeast of Hobart.</p><p>A tornado warning and tornado watches were issued for a number of areas throughout the state as the storm moved through.</p>

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