 APACHE,
Oklahoma (AP) -- Thunderstorms dumped up to 3 inches of rain on
already soggy southern Oklahoma, bringing floods that lifted mobile
homes off their foundations, washed cars off highways and trapped
people in homes. And in western Arizona, up to 500 residents were
evacuated Friday because of flooding.
A man and
his stepson were rescued Thursday after spending the night stuck
in a tree in Apache, about 60 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.
"This
wasn't just standing flood water," Apache Mayor Jack Roberts
said. "It was moving fast, like white-water rapids."
Fifty homes
in Apache were destroyed, along with 20 in nearby Anadarko, and
dozens more were damaged, officials said. About 200 residents
were evacuated.
The damage
was enough to drive some victims away permanently.
 "My
parents can't afford flood insurance. They live on a fixed income,"
Debra Love said. "This is our third flood, and our last.
We're leaving."
Donna Ware,
who saw her uninsured trailer destroyed, is also going.
"This
is too hard to come back to, trying to salvage what I can,"
she said.
As many as
60 roads and bridges were damaged in the Anadarko area after 16
inches of rain fell in six days, said Doris Huff, a Caddo County
Sheriff's dispatcher.
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| Barbara Clayborn, stands Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2000 in
front of her Apache, Okla. home, talking about the flood waters
on Monday that forced her from her home and pushed the neighbors'
boat on top of her family's cars. She said "I am very lucky
to have walked out of here safely with my family" as she described
leaving her home and walking through four feet of water. (AP
Photo/J. Pat Carter) |
Floodwaters
rose as high as six feet in some houses before receding, she said,
and electrical power was still out in some areas.
In Carter
County, about 80 miles southeast, swollen creeks flooded highways
with up to three feet of water and carried away cars.
"People
just don't listen. You tell them not to drive through the damn
water, and what do they do? They drive through the damn water,"
said Ed Reed, the county's emergency manager.
Rescuers pulled
a woman and a family from their homes.
The county
seat of Ardmore received 3.2 inches of rain on Thursday and has
averaged 1.2 inches a day for the past week, Reed said.
Highways in
Carter, Jefferson and Stephens counties closed by the high waters
were reopened by Thursday evening, officials said.
In Wenden,
Arizona, as many as 500 people were evacuated as a storm sent
more water flowing through a normally dry river bed that was the
source of flooding earlier in the week.
A flash flood
warning was in effect for the area, emergency services spokesman
Cliff Pearlberg said.
Sunday's flood
caused an estimated $7.8 million in damages in the town of 1,200
people. One person was reported missing, and 200 buildings were
damaged or destroyed.
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