Flooding Causes Metro Man's Pool To Pop Up Out Of The Ground

Heavy rains last week not only caused some underground storm shelters to pop up out of the ground, a below-ground swimming pool in Moore did the same thing Saturday morning.

Dean Willeford says he had his large concrete pool installed way back in 1986. He says three generations of his family and their friends have enjoyed that pool. However, on Saturday morning he says one of his grandsons alerted him to what had happened.

One end of the pool is tipped up four to five feet out of the ground to where you can see water underneath it.

“I couldn't believe it,” Dean said from his home Monday afternoon. “Something that's that big and so many thousands of pounds of concrete to come out and lift.”

Dean says the pool was empty of water when it happened. Blue Haven Pools was not the company that installed Dean's pool 29 years ago. That company is out of business.

But Blue Haven Owner Beto Garcia says since Willeford's pool was empty, he has a good idea about what happened. Garcia says newer pools have special plugs attached to the drain in the bottom of the pool. He says when activated--out of season--those plugs allow ground water to come up through the drain, which alleviates stress on the pool, and keeps it in place.

Dean says he loves his pool. And while he has insurance that should help with the cost of fixing or replacing his pool, he's not sure what he's going to do.

“I'm 74 years old and my wife is up there too. We may just have to get rid of the pool.”