09/10/2026
The 1986 Flood - 40 years ago when severe flooding and river crests occurred between Oct 3 and Oct 5. It remains the most destructive historical weather event on record for the Caney River basin. Classified as a 500-year flood event, it shattered all prior high-water marks and devastated surrounding communities. The three flood photos are of Bartlesville.
Heavy rains during the last two weeks of September 1986 left the ground across Oklahoma saturated. Then, moisture from Hurricane Paine flowed into Oklahoma, combined with a stationary frontal system, and produced 20-30 inches of rain over north central and northeast part of Oklahoma. This heavy rainfall over previously saturated land caused tremendous runoff, which in turn caused major rivers and all streams and creeks to flood. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was forced to open 10 dam floodgates simultaneously, releasing massive torrents of water directly into the Caney River channel. The Arkansas, Caney, Canadian, South Canadian, Cimarron, Wash*ta, Salt Fork, Neosho, and Verdigris Rivers, and the North Fork of the Red River set or nearly set record high crests. This event set new record high flood levels at 7 stream gaging sites.
Approximately 30,000 people had to be evacuated from about 25 towns. Half of these evacuations were in Bartlesville, where the river crested at an astonishing 31 feet - well over its 13-foot flood stage - cutting the city completely in half. All residents of Webbers Falls, Jenks, and Bixby were ordered to evacuate. Two lives were lost during this flood. A total of 509 residences were destroyed, and 3,957 were damaged. Many roads and bridges were washed out, including two bridges on Interstate 35. A total of 52 of the 77 counties in Oklahoma suffered some type of flood damage. There were 33 counties, the cities of Norman and Shawnee, and 10 counties in Kansas declared flood disaster areas. Damages were estimated at $350 million ($1.07 billion dollars today), half of which was from agriculture.
A High Water Mark sign provided by NWS Tulsa was installed at Cousins Park near 121st St. South and Yale Ave., where water was approximately 3.5 feet over the road. The Arkansas River at Tulsa crested at 25.21 feet during the early morning of October 5, 1986, causing flooding in Sand Springs, Tulsa, Jenks, and Bixby. Thousands of properties were flooded, causing $63.5 million in damages in Tulsa County ($194 million in 2026 dollars).
In 1983, the Corp of Engineers finished constructing a 17,100-foot-long protective levee specifically to shield the city of Caney from flooding. This was done as part of the Copan Lake construction. That levee did its job and protected the city from devastating flooding only three short years later.
Source: National Weather Service.
