How Moore city officials are responding to historic Easter weekend flooding

Preliminary data confirms the city of Moore experienced historic flooding over Easter weekend, with devastating consequences. On Saturday alone, first responders carried out more than 15 water rescues. Erika Lott, and her 12-year-old son, Rivers Bond, died after their car was swept into a drainage canal near Southeast 12th Street and Eastern Avenue. A memorial now stands at the site to honor their lives.

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Jerry Ihler, Moore’s Assistant City Manager, said in his six years in the role, he has never seen water cross Eastern Avenue.

“It was just a lot of rain in a short period of time, flash flooding,” Ihler said.

According to early estimates, the closest rain gauge recorded nearly five inches of rain within just 90 minutes, an amount that exceeds the levels between a 100- to 200-year storm.

Following standard procedure after a severe flood, the city hired a consulting firm to analyze the storm. One area of review was a recent road resurfacing project near the flood site, but Ihler confirmed it did not impact drainage capacity.

“We didn’t change the existing drainage structure in terms of capacity or anything like that,” he said.

The location is not currently among the six known flood-prone spots identified in Moore’s drainage master plan. City public works crews routinely inspect and clear these and other areas of debris following storms.

Click the player below to see how the community responded to the Easter weekend flooding deaths.

As the investigation continues, Ihler reminded residents to never drive through floodwater.

“If there’s water coming across the road, do not drive across it,” he said.

City officials say the data collected from this storm will help inform potential updates to the drainage master plan as they work to reduce future risk.