01-05-2025
Wichitans prepare for potential flooding following rains
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Though much of the rain has moved out of Texoma for the night, runoff into the Wichita River has officials and residents concerned about flooding.
As the severe weather of Tuesday night and heavy rains from Wednesday morning ease off into the distance, Wichitans living around the Wichita River, like Rudolph Ramirez, are now concerned about the encroaching waters, which are predicted to continue rising over the next 24 hours.
'It flooded back in 2007, so it came up about three feet in the house, and my house is probably going to be the first one, maybe,' Ramirez said.
While Ramirez lives in the Wrangler's Rest area along the river, it's just one part of town at risk for floods. The Horseshoe Bend area is another at risk, with houses sitting along both Horseshoe Lake and the Wichita River.
It's forcing both residents and business owners, like Gabriele Poenitzsch with Horseshoe Bend Cellars, to prepare for the potential floods.
'We are prepared,' Poenitzsch said. 'I mean, if we do get flooded out, we'll obviously close, but then we'll just have to wait for the water to retreat to come back.'
The National Weather Service predicts that if river levels reach 21 feet, areas like Tanglewood Hollow, parts of the East Side, and regions around Scotland Park will experience varying levels of flood damage. But as the day moved on, Fire Chief Cody Melton believes a more positive outcome is in the mix, but still urges residents to be prepared.
'We don't perceive there to be a huge threat, but out of abundance of caution, we've opened up the emergency operations center,' Melton said. 'And we'd like the general public to be aware and to be cautious and ready to go if there were any kind of emergency in the middle of the night.'
Though this level of flooding is rare, Ramirez is still ready to go, with bags packed and valuables placed higher up in the home out of reach of the flood waters.
'Since I moved here, they told me there wouldn't be another flood for 100 years,' Ramirez said. 'I don't think so, it's going to be coming. So, we'll see.'
As the river continues to rise through the night, Fire Chief Melton advises anybody in a flood risk area to keep an eye on the latest reports from local news outlets or the National Weather Service to know if evacuation is necessary.
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