BIXBY, Okla. — Businesses are shutting down and homeowners are starting to flee neighborhoods as the risk of rising water grows in Bixby.
The recommendation is to evacuate all homes and structures in floodplain areas.
In the meantime, people are crowding places like this pedestrian bridge as water levels are rising.
Businesses like QuikTrip on 151st and Memorial are closing Wednesday afternoon, blocking entrances and adding sand bags.
Staff there tell me they want to take every precaution until the flood risk goes away, and they have no idea when that could be.
Increased flow of water from the Keystone Dam is expected to hit Bixby at about 6 p.m.
In the meantime, the city is evaluating risk to determine if they need more than the current recommended evacuations in the floodplain.
Earlier today some people decided they weren't taking any chances.
“I was nervous early on,” resident Charles Grimes said. “But now I guess, we’ve been pretty much been up all night preparing for this... decided to just go ahead and load up a U-Haul truck and just try to get the important stuff out and sand bags around the door and garage doors, just in case. Hopefully it will help a little bit.”
Others tell us they're monitoring water near their homes and waiting until they hear more.
We also spoke with city employees up the river in Jenks.
They tell us they're working with the emergency operations center to make a better decision about evacuations.
We'll continue to keep you posted on air, on line, as well as on our free 2 Works For You app.
Crosstown Church as 3400 East Admiral in Tulsa in available as a shelter.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER YOUR ADDRESS AND SEE IF YOU SHOULD EVACUATE
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