Officials Working To Shore Up Tulsa County Levees

For another day the county has been watching the levees, crews both on the ground and in the sky have been responding to make emergency repairs.

Tuesday, May 28th 2019, 7:04 pm

By: Emory Bryan

Officials Working To Shore Up Tulsa County Levees

All day emergency, spot repairs have been made to stem the flow of water through the levee.

That work was especially urgent at the levee walls near 65th W Avenue, where continued leaks were creating some minor flooding, and concern about the integrity of the walls. Sandbags and gravel were added to shore it up.

Even though no neighborhood protected by the levee has much flooding more people were moving out on Tuesday as a precaution.

"We’re not children. We haven’t stayed here. It’s just not safe anymore,” said, evacuee Christopher Whitestone.

Just down Charles Page Boulevard, the county marshalled resources, including the National Guard, to shore up the levee wall holding back the river, near 65th West Avenue. The urgency was water seeping through cracks, with increasing flow.

"They're just trying to shore it up before it gets worse, but the wall is not about to fall down, we've got all hands on deck working to shore it up and make sure we're okay," said Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith.

Besides the boots on the ground, the air national guard remains ready to drop large sandbags from the air. They did that Monday night in one trouble spot and that's what they'll do if there's a serious break.

For now, the levee is holding but it's never been tested with water this high for this long.

Related Video: Up Close Look At Tulsa Levees

Emory Bryan

Emory Bryan is a general assignment reporter for News On 6. Emory Bryan joined the News On 6 team in 1994.

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