Search A Light In The Darkness

Wednesday 4 July 2007

Oklahomans flee as oily flood closes in

CNN Headline says:
Hundreds of residents fled their northeastern Oklahoma homes Tuesday with all they could carry as floodwaters pushed downstream, and one river carried an oil slick toward a large reservoir that supplies water to several cities. An estimated 42,000 gallons of thick crude oil that spilled from a Kansas refinery on Sunday floated with mud and debris down the Verdigris River, coating everything it touched with a slimy, smelly layer of goo. The slick wasn't expected to have an effect on water supply intakes located well below the surface Oklahoma's Oologah Lake, about 30 miles northeast of Tulsa, said Skylar McElhaney, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. In northeast Oklahoma, the rain-swollen Neosho River spilled over its banks, forcing at least 300 Miami residents to evacuate and flooding buildings and apartments at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, where classes were canceled for the rest of the week.