Updated 3:17 p.m.: Severe storms likely across western Oklahoma
The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch for counties in far western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, saying there's an Enhanced Risk for severe storms across far western Oklahoma Wednesday afternoon and evening.
A Flash Flood Watch is also in effect for much of the state beginning at 7 p.m. and lasting through 7 a.m. Sunday, May 31. Forecasters expect areas of heavy rain Wednesday evening across western and northern Oklahoma, and then late Thursday and Thursday night mainly in southwest Oklahoma and western North Texas. The most widespread and possibly the heaviest rain could come Friday night through Saturday evening as a front slowly passes over the region.
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Gov. Mary Fallin and state and local emergency managers toured damage in Purcell Wednesday morning after storms flooded significant portions of southern Oklahoma over the weekend.
Fallin told reporters assembled at the Purcell Fire Station that the city had received nearly 20 inches of rain in just the past few weeks. The governor urged residents affected by flooding, hail, or high winds to call the Federal Emergency Management Agency at 1 (800) 621-FEMA to report the damage.
"Take a lot of pictures, certainly call your insurance agents," Fallin said. "Make sure that you get with the city and of course with the state to show the damage itself. We're currently doing damage assessments all across Oklahoma."
Fallin has declared a state of emergency in all 77 counties in Oklahoma due to storms that have claimed 11 lives since May 5. President Obama approved a federal disaster declarationTuesday for Cleveland, Grady, and Oklahoma counties.
Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood said he hopes to see more counties added to the federal disaster declaration. Five survey teams are currently out assessing damage, but officials plan to increase that number to eight later this week.
"Keep in mind a lot of the damage we're looking at, or trying to, is still underwater across the state," Ashwood said. "So we have to wait for the water to get down to look at those roads, look at those bridges."
Ashwood said he wouldn't be surprised if two-thirds of the state was declared a federal disaster area, because state emergency officials have only heard from six counties that didn't report any damage. He said most of the damage so far has been caused by flash flooding, but now that rivers, reservoirs, and lakes are spilling over their banks, more sustained, widespread flooding could be possible.
"The bottom line is you're going to find a lot of flood damages now in areas that we don't consider floodplains," Ashwood said. "So it's not going to be covered by flood insurance that people have received and purchased. It's going to be something that they're going to need assistance from their government on, because your homeowners policy doesn't cover flood damages."
Fallin, Ashwood, and other state officials plan to take an aerial tour of damage across the Lake Texoma region later Wednesday afternoon.
More severe weather is possible Wednesday across central and western Oklahoma.
The western third of the state and several counties in North Texas are under a Slight Risk for severe storms, and the rest of the National Weather Service’s Norman forecast area under a Marginal Risk for Wednesday.
Meteorologists say wind shear will be lower Wednesday, meaning supercell development and tornadoes are less likely, but warmer temperatures could increase atmospheric instability. Severe storms will also move slower Wednesday compared to Tuesday, but that could result in localized heavy rainfall of several inches, and possible flash flooding.
The first storms will likely form over far southwestern Oklahoma and western North Texas between 1 and 4 p.m., before slowly moving across a wider area and arriving in the Oklahoma City metro between 5 and 10 p.m. Storms should move out of the area after midnight.
More severe storms are possible Thursday and Friday, with large hail and damaging winds the main hazards.
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