'Backbuilding' storms drench Oklahoma City, cause flooding
Heavy rains flood streets in Oklahoma City.
[Updated at 12:50 p.m.] Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said Monday that neighborhoods are being evacuated because of high waters.
[Posted at 11:39 a.m.] The Oklahoma City area was dealing with vicious flash-flooding and scattered power outages Monday after what CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras called "backbuilding thunderstorms," a series of heavy rain cores without intermittent periods of let-up.
iReport: Street turns into a river
The National Weather Service said almost 10 inches of rain fell between 2 a.m. CT and 11 a.m. CT and Tim Hartley of Oklahoma Gas & Electric says that's left about 4,000 customers without power.
It's a "bad situation throughout the entire county," Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mark Myers said.
CNN affiliate KOCO reported that portions of Interstate 35, Interstate 40 and Interstate 44 in the Oklahoma City area had flooded.
Oklahoma City Police spokeswoman Kristy Yager said police are trying to manage stalled vehicles, barricade flooded streets and help people. "Areas that have never flooded before are flooding now," said Yager.
Glynda Chu, a police spokeswoman from nearby Edmond, Okla., said it was the worst flooding seen in 25 years.
CNN affiliate KOCO broadcast pictures of a car submerged almost to its windows. Dive teams navigated the raging waters to get to the scene, then rescued the car's occupants by boat. CNN affiliate KFOR showed another water rescue, with crews ferrying people to safety.
Kyla Campbell from the Oklahoma Red Cross says the organization is advising people to be cautious and stay indoors to avoid incidents such as those seen on TV. The Red Cross says it is not looking at evacuations but it is standing by to provide shelter, if needed.
Both Yager and Campbell expressed concerned about a residential neighborhood called Ski Island, which contains a lake.
