Saturated Miami keeps eyes on forecast

By Kaylea M. Hutson-Miller

As she counts her blessings, Yolanda Schell is keeping a close eye on the extended forecast.

Schell, who lives on I Street NE in Miami, learned the hard way last week to take flash flood warnings seriously.

Her front yard — right up to her porch — flooded when storm drains near the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College overfilled with rainwater on Thursday.

As the water rose, the family chose to evacuate and sleep in their car in the Walmart parking lot.

Schell believes she’s lucky, because the family was able to move much of their belongings out of the house and place them in storage during in the three days leading up to the flash flooding.

After staying at the local American Red Cross shelter for a night, the family has since been, as Schell puts it, “glamping” at home — waiting to see what the next round of storms bring.

The family’s action plan now includes parking down the street at a local laundromat — which did not flood Thursday evening — and making sure the back door, leading to the alley, remains accessible.

“I do not trust flash flooding in this house because it fills up too fast,” Schell said.

Not since 2007

As she watches the upcoming forecast, Angela Wall hopes the gamble her family made in 2008 to purchase a home on Quail Creek continues to pay off.

While their home near NEO’s campus sustained some damage during this week’s flash flooding, water did not come into the main structure.

Two inches of space separated the water filling the sunroom and the main living area.

Last week, as flash flood warnings began to fill the news, Wall and her family were able to evacuate their cars and belongings. They were hoping for the best but preparing for the worst — 3 feet of water filled the home during the 2007 flood.

Now staying mainly with family in Grove, Wall watches as stormwater continues to travel through the Grand River watershed, from Kansas and Missouri into Oklahoma.

Wall knows if the water tops the expected crest of 25.5 feet, her home may fill with water.

“We are prepared if it does, but we hope it doesn’t,” Wall said.

Looking ahead

For the past few days, Miami police Chief Thomas Anderson has become a familiar fixture on social media.

Using Facebook Live, the chief has provided residents with 5 p.m. updates concerning changes in water levels and weather forecasts.

The updates, on both the city of Miami’s and police department’s pages, come after his daily calls with officials from the National Weather Service and Grand River Dam Authority.

At least 50 to 60 homes, and countless businesses along Steve Owens Boulevard and South Main have been affected by the floodwaters. That includes the city’s swimming pool, fairgrounds, athletic fields and the South Main Fire Station.

Last week, in preparation for the storm, Ottawa County inmates were used to help evacuate the fire station and nearby Knott’s Grocery.

Anderson said the million-dollar question for emergency personnel as they look at the week’s forecast is “What’s next?”

He said National Weather Service officials have indicated flash flooding is most likely going to happen, as water is added through rain and into the Grand River watershed in Kansas.

“Everything is saturated with water or already full,” Anderson said. “We may have areas that flood out that haven’t yet.”

As of Monday afternoon, the Neosho River was at 24 feet. With the initial water expected, Anderson said it will mostly likely crest again at 25.5 feet.

Anderson continues to warn residents and others about driving past flood barricades. As of Monday, emergency personnel had conducted at least 30 water rescues of people driving through water-covered roadways and becoming stranded.

City officials have implemented a $500 per incident ticket for those bypassing the barricades.

Anderson said his officers are strictly enforcing the measure to save lives.

“It’s a basic safety thing,” Anderson said. “Don’t drive into water.”

Anderson hopes to see some kind of normalcy within the city by next week. He is beginning to think about long-range issues, which include recovery for those affected and any mitigation of flooded areas that may be necessary.

“That can include raising the roadway elevations and making the city safer in general,” Anderson said.

This story previously appeared in The Joplin Globe. http://bit.ly/GlobeFlood