Flooding and flood control in Tulsa
The combination of topographic and climatic factors in the Tulsa area have frequently caused major flash flooding, especially near streams that normally drain the area. The city was founded atop a bluff on the Arkansas River. Thus, elevation protected most of the inhabitants and their possessions from damage when the river flooded. However, by the turn of the 20th Century the population growth had moved closer to the river, and the flatlands west of the Arkansas had begun to develop as well. The floods typically caused widespread property damage and sometimes death. By the 1920s, seasonal floods of the Arkansas began to cause serious damage and loss of life. Since its founding, city leaders had responded to such events by simply rebuilding and replacing the property that had been destroyed in situ. Not until 1970 did the city government begin developing strategies to mitigate floods or at least minimize property damage and prevent loss of life. This article describes some of the more notable floods in Tulsa, then the mitigation and control strategies that evolved from them.
Floods continued to endanger life and property, as the city encroaches on the surrounding farm land. City authorities decided that then-existing Federal guidelines were inadequate to control the local situation and began to develop more stringent requirements. The Tulsa plan has evolved and now affects the entire watershed, including other communities in the Tulsa metropolitan area.
Although floods cannot be totally prevented, the Tulsa flood control program has been recognized as a success by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and several other organizations. The control efforts will go on as long as people live in vulnerable areas.
Flood records are sparse before 1900. In 1908, only a year after statehood, Arkansas River flooding at Tulsa caused $250,000 in damages ($13.15 million in 1994 dollars). The city was mostly on top of a bluff along the river, thus spared flooding. However, the railroad bridge across the river was washed away, disrupting railroad traffic westward until the bridge could be replaced.
By 1920, the oil boom had generated such rapid growth that real estate was being developed on low ground near the Arkansas River, On June 13, 1923, the river flooded these low-lying areas, causing $500,000 in damages ($11.94 million in 1994 dollars), and leaving 4,000 homeless. The flood included Tulsa's waterworks, which were located at what is now Newblock Park, The new waterworks, were built on higher ground northeast of downtown Tulsa, near Bird Creek. This 2,800 acres (11,000,000 m2) area became Mohawk Park, one of the nation's largest city parks. The city also issued its first flood control plan, attempting to put housing on higher ground and reserving the lowlands for parks.
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