Choctaw Mayor Calls River Erosion An Extreme Emergency

An Oklahoma County commissioner pleaded with the Army Corp of Engineers to help stop major erosion along the North Canadian River.

Just in the last several hours of Friday, more than 15 feet of the rivers banks were lost near Choctaw.

The mayor of Choctaw called it an extreme emergency. They believe in less than two weeks, Triple X Road at N.E. 36th all the way down to N.E. 50th will be completely washed out due to severe erosion.

The west bank of the North Canadian River is falling apart and fast.

“If you live here, it is an emergency. If you're going to drive down this road, or worry about losing a bridge down the street, it's an emergency,” said Choctaw Mayor, Randy Ross.

Massive foot long chunks are falling into the river.

“This use to be a driveway. This was someone's house right here. You can see the plumbing that went to their house. It's still sticking up out the river,” said Oklahoma County Commissioner, Brian Maughn.

That was in 2013, and the Buford family said they saw it coming. Their home for nearly a decade fell into the river.

“We had 40 acres, now we don't have but about three,” said Rhonda Buford, back in June 2013.

At this point, Commissioner Maughn said there's nothing they can do to save the roadway, and the record rainfall has accelerated the erosion of the rivers banks.

“It's important that the Army Corps act on this. We've had money encumbered for years as we've been hoping that they shore up different points,” said Maughn.

Maughn said the county does not have the authority to affect the rivers water flow, that is solely up to the Army Corp of Engineers.

“We'll do everything to make passages through to be safe, but we will not be able to reopen this area,” said Maughn.

“If we don't do something about it, it's not gonna stop,” said Randy Ross.

The county has been monitoring the area every six hours for several days now.

Triple X Road has been blocked off indefinitely.

The County Commissioner said at this point it's too dangerous to travel.