>>6568210
More info: The river bank is unstable. Large chunks are falling off into the river. Levees are in bad condition. Dam is currently releasing 255,000 cps. We're hearing it could go 300,000 cps or higher. In the flood of 1986, gates were open to allow 310,0000 cps. The result was wide spread flooding, loss of life and loss of shttps://www.tulsaworld.com/weather/lessons-from-past-floods-help-keep-water-at-bay-for/article_e5e423c4-dd3a-50a7-8ceb-310fea590d79.htmltructures.
“The nearly 20-mile levee system is among the top 5 percent of levees in the nation considered at high risk by the Corps of Engineers. This caused the corps last year to select the system to participate in a risk assessment pilot program to identify problems and prioritize rehabilitation projects.
Results are not yet known.
In 2008, the Corps of Engineers rated levee District 12 as “unacceptable” for having one or more deficiencies preventing it from functioning as designed. In 2011, the corps accepted the district into an improvement program.
In 1986, the Keystone Dam released water at a rate of 310,000 cubic feet per second. It caused damages in Tulsa County of about $63.5 million, which is $137 million in today’s currency.
“Keystone Dam is sized to unleash more than 900,000 cubic feet per second — three times the 1986 flood,” Patton said. “When the monster rains occur upstream, there is real possibility that the flood through Tulsa would compromise the levees and be of catastrophic proportions.”
Kilpatrick said the 70-year-old levees are woefully inadequate for the kind of storms occurring in Texas and southern Oklahoma. He said the dump stations are also antiquated, with replacement parts no longer being manufactured, requiring repairs at a specialized machine shop.
“It’s a 70-year-old infrastructure that needs to be replaced,” Kilpatrick said. “We can only do with what funding we have. We have been fortunate so far.”