Flash floods swept through Oklahoma City Monday, trapping people in cars and closing sections of major highways, as the death toll from last week's floods in neighboring Arkansas rose to 20.
"Downtown is practically impassable. There are traffic lights out and it's very dangerous to be driving there right now," said Kristy Yager, spokeswoman for the city of Oklahoma City.
Slow moving thunderstorms dumped 10 inches of rain on the city early Monday, overwhelming the sewer system and flooding portions of roads, leaving some motorists trapped in their cars, and forcing others to abandon their vehicles.
"It came down pretty quickly," said Daryl Williams, a forecaster in Norman, OK.
In some spots, the water was four feet deep and the Fire Department was using boats to liberate trapped motorists from their water-logged vehicles.
City officials were asking residents in Ski Island, a neighbourhood which backs up to a lake, to voluntarily evacuate as engineers evaluated the dam on the lake to see if it would hold.
Portions of three feeder highways — I-235, I-35, and I-40 — were also closed due to flooding, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation said.
As Oklahoma City struggled, authorities in Arkansas wound up a search for victims of flash floods that sent a wall of water tumbling through the Ouachita National Forest early Friday, carrying away cabins and camp sites in the dead of night.
Arkansas state police said two more bodies had been recovered, raising the death toll to 20.
Six of the dead were children and all but two of the victims came from out of state to camp and hike and fish in the rugged natural beauty of the national forest.
"We have satisfied ourselves that these people have been accounted for," said Bill Sadler, police spokesman.
A search and recovery mission continued for other recreational visitors who may have been in the park last Thursday night, but for whom police have no firm leads, Sadler, said.
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