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lone grove
Firefighter risks life to rescue stranded [email protected]
Driving through heavy rain in the dark is scary enough, but panic and terror quickly follow when these conditions are combined with swift-current flood waters sweeping cars off the road like a bulldozer moving a go-kart.
This was the case Wednesday night after Tropical Depression Bill swept through Carter County leaving several people stranded and in need of rescue. One of those rescues occurred south of Lone Grove when a small car with a
woman driver was swept 200 yards off Newport Road.
“She got into high water and she floated down the road,” said Stacey Pheles, Lone Grove Fire Department Chief.
Pheles was unable to get to the rescue, so Greg Allen, Lone Grove firefighter, answered the call.
“I pulled up beside her and tried to open the door,” Allen said.
However, the flood waters had already risen so high that had he opened his door the wa-
ters would have caved it in. Allen proceeded to climb out the window of the truck and onto the roof. He said he could see she wasn’t 10 feet away.
“I think he realized how bad it was, to the point of no return,” said Ian O’Neal, Lone Grove City Manager. “I heard him radio out that he could see her and I knew at that point he wasn’t going to stop, he was going to keep going.”
Allen almost lost the rescue and his own life when he jumped in the water to try to get to her and was swept away himself.
city of ardmore
Mayor: state of [email protected]
Mayor John Moore wast-ed little time in setting the wheels of recovery in motion, declaring a state of emer-gency in Ardmore Thursday morning.
The decla-ration stated the flooding had caused one fatal-ity and un-known in-juries with considerable damage. The proclamation will expire after seven days unless extended by Moore.
“I think this is something we need,” Moore said. “A lot of people have been hurt by the devastation. It is unbe-lievable that it happened here in Ardmore. It is different for us, but we are going to have to pull together as a com-
munity to get our lives back to normal as quickly as pos-sible. And my heart goes out to the family who lost their loved one.”
Moore said he was shocked by the amount of rain that fell on Ardmore Wednesday. Driving throughout the city,
it really hit home for him. “When I saw the water
moving all over, I realized it was not like a couple of weeks ago. There was just too much rain. One thing about it is we now know we have some areas we need to work on so
The body of a 2-year-old toddler, swept away in Hickory Creek during a flash flood near Myall Road
and Country Wood Drive Wednes-day night, was recovered Thursday afternoon.
Capt. Eric Hamblin, Ardmore Po-lice Department public information officer, officially confirmed Jeremiah Mayer was located about 2:40 p.m.
“He was found by ground search-ers,” Hamblin said. “He was in de-bris in the water,” adding although an immediate search was launched
Wednesday night, efforts were hampered by heavy rain and the deep swift-moving water. “The water was 15 to 20 feet high when he went missing.”
Hamblin described the minutes after arriving on the scene about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and the unsuccessful initial attempt to rescue the toddler’s father, Devon, who had become stranded by the swift moving water as he tried to escape the flood with his son, who had been swept from his arms. Hamblin, APD Officer Matt Miller and Carter County Deputy Kenny Mashore made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the stranded man.
“Then Ardmore Fire Department arrived. I have never been so glad to see the AFD as I was then,” Hamblin said, confirming firefighters were able to rescue the father and prevent what would have been a double tragedy.
Pounding rain continued and darkness descended as the search for the toddler continued. By 10 p.m. APD Chief Ken Grace discontinued search due to the severe conditions, calling the effort “too dangerous.” He ordered the hunt resumed at 7 a.m. Thursday.
Toddler’s body recovered Thursday
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driversattempttonavigatefloodedstreetsnearthei-35in-tersectionatBroadwayStreet,Wednesday.PhOTO SuBMITTED
Bill’s remnants flood state along path to us midsection
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The rem-nants of a tropical storm that moved in from the Gulf of Mexico this week focused most of its fury Thursday on Oklahoma and Arkan-sas, pushing rivers to record-high levels and causing flooding as it crawled northward through the nation’s midsection.
There have been no reported injuries caused by the storm, which came ashore
Asectionofinterstate35atthe50milemarkerisclosedbecauseofarockslideonthursday,indavis.ThE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Floods claim second [email protected]
As the search for a missing two-year-old held the state’s attention, an-other search at Hickory Creek off of Countyline Road took place. Thursday afternoon. Members of the Criner Hills Volunteer Fire Department discovered the body of John Harrison.
Harrison’s body was discovered about 100 yards from the spot near
Rock Crossing Bridge. Harrison had traveled to Ardmore to check on his mother Wednesday evening, accord-ing to Sheriff Milton Anthony. While returning to his home in Overbrook, his Toyota pick-up was swept away in a current that rose over the bridge and through a neighboring wheat field.
“We got a call at 3:01 p.m. today re-garding a deceased person,” Anthony said. “The body of Mr. Harrison was
CarterCountydeputiesandmembersoftheSouthernOklahomaAmbulanceServicebeginatrekdownHickoryCreektorecoverthebodyofJohnHar-rison.theOverbrookmanwassweptawaybyastrongcurrentintotheover-flowingcreekWednesdaynight.MIChAEL PINEDA/ThE ARDMOREITE
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