TULSA, Okla. — Flash flooding at 43rd and Sheridan is a common problem for the city costing it resources and time when heavy rain falls in the area, but now the city has a plan to fix it with potential grant money.
The 43rd and Sheridan intersection floods a lot because of the Fulton Creek Drainage Basin which spans over 616 acres. In 2019 we captured video of flooding there.
This is why the city wants to get a nearly $20 million grant to fix the problem. Mayor G.T. Bynum says Tulsa is a finalist for FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant and it is the only city in FEMA’s region 6 to be a finalist.
“For anybody who lives or works in this area you know that this is a spot that you want to avoid when there is a heavy rainfall and this grant would allow us to eliminate that adverse impact on our community," Bynum said.
He says if the city gets the money and can make the improvements, it would protect about 46,000 vehicles that drive through this area every day along with over 100 businesses and homes in the area.
Tulsa Fire Chief Michael Baker says the grant would save the city money since, for ten years of flooding, they’ve had to dedicate 47 fire apparatuses to this area alone during street flooding.
“The most important fact is that over the last six years alone we have conducted 13 water rescues from this intersection," Baker said. "What that means is not only firefighters are placed at risk in a preventable nature but our residents are being placed at risk as well to flooding and being swept away in moving flood waters.”
Bynum says this project would focus on increasing the size and types of culverts and provide drainage structures. The city expects to know by next spring whether it gets the grant.
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