Authorities in Oklahoma are looking for a toddler swept out of his father’s arms during a flash flood, according to Capt. Eric Hamblin with the Ardmore Police Department.
“The man and his 2-year-old son were trying to leave Ardmore as a flash flood swept through Wednesday night, likely from the swollen Hickory Creek,” said Hamblin. “The father was unable to hold onto the boy and he was swept away.”
Up to 60 people from numerous agencies and volunteers are participating in the search, Hamblin said.
In the last 24 hours, Ardmore has received more than 6 inches of rain, but other parts of the state have had more than 10 inches, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, which has activated its State Emergency Operations Center because of all the flooding.
I-35 closed
“There has been a lot of flooding in and around Ardmore and we have shut down Interstate 35 in that area,” said Paul Timmons with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
There have been numerous other road closures and power outages, with some homes being evacuated due to the flooding, OEM reported.
The state of emergency status affects all 77 counties in Oklahoma and will allow state agencies to make emergency purchases to deal with the flooding.
The rain is moving out of Oklahoma but tropical moisture will continue to bring heavy rain to the Southern Plains as it moves into the Ohio Valley, the National Weather Service reported.
Texas flooding threats continue
Residents who live just north of Dallas near Grapevine Lake may be dealing with flooding even after the rain moves through, because of rising lake levels.
Excess water from the lake feeds into Denton Creek, and if that creek floods it could cause roadway flooding, cutting off access to some residents.
“We’ll take measures once we are 100% certain that it’s going there,” Chief Darrell Brown of the Grapevine Fire Department told CNN affiliate KDAF. “We believe it will be in the next 24 to 48 hours, so we are doing everything we can to ensure we give them ample notice to have a way out before we evacuate those apartments.”
In Dallas, where the Trinity River is still above flood stage, the National Weather Service is warning people to stay away until it recedes, which is not expected for the next few days.
With heavy thunderstorms still in the forecast for a large section of north Texas, flash flooding is still possible through Thursday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
Dallas not expecting evacuations
Kevin Oden with the Dallas Office of Emergency Management told CNN that because of the high levees in most of the city, he’s not extremely concerned about flooding and it shouldn’t cause any evacuations.
“The Trinity River being above flood stage does not really mean a lot, because there are 60-foot levees along the river,” said Oden. “We are watching the rain though. We are not too concerned about flash flooding, but what will cause flooding is after the rain is over and the lake levels rise, water will have to be released.”
“We know where it will flood and it’s not in a residential area. It’s where the Trinity River goes through the northwest side of Dallas,” he added.
The Luna Vista Golf Course sits on the edge of that river and is already closed because of flooding, golf pro Mickey Piersall told CNN. “The river runs right by our property, and our golf course drainage goes to the river and can’t drain when it’s this high. The golf course is under water from the rain,” he said.
Bill made landfall as a tropical storm at 12:45 p.m. ET Tuesday, just south-southwest of Port O’Connor on Matagorda Island. It was downgraded to a tropical depression Wednesday morning by the National Hurricane Center, which said the storm is expected to weaken further as it travels into the Ohio River Valley.