1986 flood
Between September 25 and October 4, 1986,
a series of storms battered northeastern Oklahoma, including Tulsa. High creek waters affected 49 buildings around the city --- but the more serious problems were along the Arkansas River. Upstream from Tulsa, Keystone Reservoir filled, forcing the Corps of Engineers to release water that caused downstream flooding. At their height, the releases topped 300,000 cubic feet per second. Sandbaggers, levee watchers, and emergency teams worked around the clock for days. Along the river around Tulsa, widespread flood damage occurred. But in Tulsa, river flooding was more contained. A levee broke west (upstream) of downtown, but sandbaggers prevented significant damage. Levees and open-space preserves largely did their jobs. Along the river front, Tulsa's River Parks were swamped, but dollar damages were limited to about $113,000.
The most serious problem occurred on the Arkansas west bank at Tulsa, in a little neighborhood called Garden City --- an aging cluster of low-income homes wedged between the river, refineries, and heavy industry, on land long contaminated by industrial pollution.River water entered Garden City from a low-point breach in an old, private levee along the river's west bank. In all, about $1.3 million in damages occurred to 14 homes, 11 industrial buildings, and 39 mobile homes. A low scattering of homes --- some just shotgun shacks --- flooded up to the rafters. The toxic, trapped water lingered up for days giving rise to an echo of the 1984 question --- was it wise public policy to rebuild?
1986 program
By the 1986 flood, the 1984 buy-out was still
controversial. But the new mayor, Dick Crawford, toured of Garden City and agreed with recommendations by Street Commissioner J.D. Metcalfe that the city should immediately convene another Tulsa Hazard-Mitigation Team and consider whether the response to the 1986 flood could reduce the city's future flood vulnerability.After weeks of debate, the city agreed to purchase 13 parcels in Garden City, including seven homes. The acquisition program was voluntary. Considerable debate arose over whether to rebuild the breached Garden City levee; ultimately, the city decided it must be rebuilt to provide at least limited protection to extensive industrial areas on the city's west bank.
Recent acquisitions
By the late 1980s, Tulsa's stormwater
management program was well into an era of master drainage planning. As part of the implementation of plans, limited floodplain acquisition occurred between 1986 and 1993. In some instances, the acquisitions were a first phase for structural projects, even if no funding was identified for later structural construction. Others were in residual flooding areas, to be preserved in floodplain open space.Future acquisitions
In 1991 voters approved a line-item $600,000
in a sales tax package specifically for floodplain acquisition or floodproofing. Subsequently, the city Legal Department held that Oklahoma law did not allow the city to spend public funds on private properties for floodproofing, so the focus of the project shifted back to floodplain acquisition,
In 1993, consultant French and Associates completed a draft report outlining criteria for preflood site selection and acquisition priorities. Approval of the report, and subsequent acquisition program design, are pending at this writing.
At least two aspects of this program are significant. First, there was virtually no public discussion of the sales tax allocation, before or after the vote, perhaps signifying public acceptance, at last, of the concept of floodplain acquisition. Second, this ongoing program is testimony that the City of Tulsa has finally institutionalized the idea of floodplain clearance, to be used selectively as one aspect of its multi-faceted flood-hazard mitigation program.