Memorial Day Flood In Tulsa 1984

[peterjmag]

Just curious if anyone has any pics of the damage from that event.


P.J. Maguire

 

[mfolta1]

i can tell you i have pictures in my memory of that morning, waking up to a river thru my front yard and an ocean in my backyard, i still have reoccuring nightmares to this day of that event. we ended up with a foot in the garage and 4 inches in the house here near 46th and mingo.....

 

[peterjmag]

I'm sorry I don't mean to bring up a past nightmare. I'm just curious about it because I think really that was the worst disaster in Tulsa history. I was only 5 years old when that happened. We lived at 28th PL and 129th East Ave and that creek that runs through that area had washed up in our neighborhood and turned it in to a river down 28th PL. I remember my dad and mom said they woke up in the middle of the night to screaming people trapped in the trees above the creek. My dad said he ran and woke up all the neighbors and they got their boats out into the water and went and rescued people left and right. One younger girl was brought to my house and my mom put her into our bathtub and helped her warm back up and recuperate. I look at the pics and footage from that awful night and I think my god Tulsa has come along way with it's flood control since then.


P.J. Maguire

 

[CommShrek]

Just curious if anyone has any pics of the damage from that event.


P.J. Maguire

I do. Here's a link to an article of someone I work with who was involved in the rescue effort. She's actually here today. Click on the link below or copy and paste if need be:

http://www.citizencorpstulsa.org/publication.cfm?id=2004-web-11

 

[mfolta1]

oh no problem, you didnt upset me at all, as a matter of fact i would love to see any pics or video from that night, i know alot of cops who were working that night and have told me stories, i was woke up by my dad and brothers voices, my dad is paralized from the waist down so it was pretty scary wondering what we were gonna do with him if the water got real deep, my brother ended up playing in the water with the other kids while i panic'd like mad. check this out, in april of 2000 i had been out chasing, i came home at 4 am, at approx 5 am i hear the sirens go off, i call the station and taft tells me they issued a flood warning for tulsa so i said id go shoot flood video, well i open my door and theres the river again in my front yard just like 84, i panic'd, drove my car up into the yard, got stuck ,,freaked out. they were doing construction and had the drains blocked. needless to say i hate water!

folta.

 

[mfolta1]

HEY PJ, man your post sparked my interest deluxe! I am here at the station and am going thru all the file video from the 84 flood, KILLER STUFF! 31st and mingo UNDER WATER! I will compile this stuff and make a copy for free if youd like.. will keep ya posted..

folta.

 

[peterjmag]

Thanks for the link TB. I have seen those pics before. Folta, if you could find pics of anything invloved in the flood that would cool. I would really like to see TPD and TFD and EMSA pics as well. If KTUL has the old footage from that event that would be so cool. I have always seen KOTV's footage but I have never seen KTUL's. All in all anything would be cool. Thanks...

P.J. Maguire

 

[peterjmag]

Hey Two Bravo did you live in Tulsa during the 84 flood? What are some of the stories you have?

P.J.Maguire

 

[mfolta1]

pj, im on it bro, only video though, so far i have arials and ground footage, there is a chilling arial shot from 31st and mingo,just 1 and a qrtr miles north of my house, gas prices on the store sign there were at 109 a gallon btw..lol! then i have a shot of the burlington northern rr yard in west tulsa and hwy 75 under water, then theres some of the 31 and memorial location and a shot of a body being removed from the creek at 11th and garnett in the red bud lot, also 51st and harvard in that creek about a block west. will keep you informed and when i get it transferred to vhs i will get you a copy,, BTW i found video of the catoosa tornado recorded from a police dash cam, incredible stuff...

 

[CommShrek]

Hey Two Bravo did you live in Tulsa during the 84 flood? What are some of the stories you have?

P.J.Maguire

No, sorry, I lived in South Florida from about 1977-1995. I was there when Hurricane Andrew came blasting through town. I've also been in a few smaller hurricane's. I could tell some stories about Andrew though. Thanks for asking.

 

[peterjmag]

Ohhh man that is awsome! Your going to put the 93 Catoosa tornado on there as well? Man that is to cool! Thanks Folta!


P.J. Maguire

 

[mfolta1]

yea, ill throw it on there, its hard to see until the last second then your see big swirls, then theres video from a back yard of it, you see a power flash right b4 the person taping it pans right.

 

[mfolta1]

http://bamlock.web.aplus.net/memorialflood1984.html

 

[peterjmag]

Folta thanks for those pics. I haven't seen those yet. Here is what I have seen.


http://www.tulsaworld.com/specialsections/flood84/flood84.asp


http://tulsapartners.org/archive/2004-web-11.htm


P.J. Maguire

 

[mfolta1]

thanks, i found all i could on tape, i will be making copies this week....

 

[Chaos703]

More Tulsa Flood History

Something a little off topic that will probably be of great interest to you:

The library downtown has a big book of high altitude arial shots of the Arkansas R. when in it flooded in 1986 (or was it 87?) It was done as a flood study. Absolutley fascinating. It shows consecutive pics from the dam all the way down to Muskogee. And yes, you can see the mighty Batfish afloat.

When I saw it, it was up in the reference section just laying out on a table. I'm sure someone working there could direct you to it.

 

[peterjmag]

I'll check it out thanks Chaos and yes that was 86 you are correct.


P.J. Maguire

 

[mfolta1]

Flood video update 84 tulsa

ok, i got the tape ready of all the memorial day flood video i could find, heres the deal, its about an hour and 15 minutes long, i compiled video that was in house, there is also a 30 minute special on the tulsa flood problem which is mainly about the 84 flood, since almost all this video is donated material i can give copies, however the catoosa tornado video stuff is ch 8's property so i cant take it,sorry. so anyone who wants a copy of the flood video i have made please private message me with your address and i will get one made asap and mailed out to you, and yes its all free,id never charge for this and it would be illegal to do so, also please be advised that this video can not be reproduced to be sold. i took the time to do this because i almost got swepped away in the flood and still to this day have horrible nightmares about it and i know many of you have memories also and i wanted to help out. so all this said i hope ya enjoy it..


folta.

 

[peterjmag]

Thank you so much Folta! I can't wait to see it!


P.J. Maguire

 

[peterjmag]

Just got the tape this evening and all I can say is wow! We have come a long way since those days. Did we really get 14 inches of rain that night? If so I don't recall us having that much rain since that night. I wonder if we could handle that much today with all the rention ponds that have been built etc? Thank you so much for your time and effort into the making of this video Folta! Your the best!


P.J. Maguire