09-17-07 Meeting of Drainage and Flooding Committee

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PREFACE It was 3 a.m. The newly elected city commissioner, in office only 19 days, was jarred from fitful sleep by the loud ringing of his bedside phone. "Commissioner! Through phone static, he recognized the voice of the mayor. "I need you to come to the emergency operations center right away. I'll send a truck to get you. It's flooding." "No!" said the commissioner. "Where?" "Everywhere." Thus began Tulsa's worst natural disaster, our 1984 flood. City leaders huddled in the Emergency Operations Center throughout the nightmare night, shell-shocked by volley after volley of horrifying reports of destruction all across town. They mustered all available forces to battle the flood. There were miraculous victories, such as in Holiday Mobile Home Park, where a life flight helicopter pilot braved the storm to rescue 40 people; they were plucked from their roofs, one by one, by the outstretched hand of the chopper nurse. Overall, our forces were puny by comparison to the overwhelming power of the water reclaiming its floodplains. Before dawn, as much as 15 inches of rain had fallen. Fourteen Tulsans had lost their lives in flashing waves of water. Another 288 were hurt. Nearly 7,000 homes and businesses were ruined, and another 7,000 cars and trucks — including city fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances — were destroyed. Damage was $183 million. In the darkest hours of that terrible night, the commissioner and our new young mayor vowed to do whatever they could — and the political cost be damned — to prevent Tulsa from suffering such a disastrous flood again. That commitment produced Tulsa's comprehensive stormwater management program — a program born of great loss, hard lessons, and tremendous political courage. Ann Patton, Community Affairs Manager, Tulsa, Oklahoma This document was prepared to help you, as an elected official, plan and take action to prepare your community for floods that will happen, if not during your term of office, then later. It is hoped that, by taking these measures, you will avoid facing what Tulsa, Oklahoma, experienced.