Flooding near OU campus leaves students stranded in off campus housing

Norman was a hotspot in Saturdays flooding across the OKC metro and several roads around the University of Oklahoma were impassable due to floodwaters. 

Many OU students say it’s not uncommon to see flooded streets around campus during the rainy months. 

“It’s like every time it rains it just floods our entire street,” Jessica Bell, an OU senior said. 

Poor storm drainage has long plagued many of Normans neighborhood streets, causing the water to rise and recede rapidly.

On Saturday morning, flash flooding caused Norman police to shut down College Avenue at the Lindsey Street intersection. 

Thats where Bell and her roommates live, and she said this is not the first time she and her roommates have been stranded at their rental house due to flood waters.

“Oh it’s so frustrating because, like, we’re trapped here. We can’t go anywhere,” Bell said. 

The water gets deceivingly high, which creates dangerous driving conditions. Saturday, the floodwaters were as high as knee deep and at times deep enough to prevent cars from getting through. 

“We’ve had to push them out like they’ve died off and we’ve had to push them up into the lot of down that way,” Bell said, pointing towards an area of higher ground across Lindsey Street. 

But when they’re not lending a helping hand or wondering how to get to class or work, Bell said she and her roommates try and look for a silver lining when the rain starts to pour.

“You got to have fun with it. It’s our last couple of weeks here,” Bell said. 

She and her roommates spent an hour outside wading through the floodwaters and making the best of the situation. 

“I got my wet floor sign. I was waving at all the cars. We like to get splashed by the cars sometimes, just walking up and down, having a good time with each other,” Bell said. 

After hours of heavy rain, floodwaters finally began to recede in the early afternoon.