Man Rescued from Sallisaw Creek Flood Waters

                        (Photo Courtesy of Craig Edgmon)

A 70-year-old Sequoyah County man was rescued from the flood waters in Sallisaw Creek, south of the Low Water Bridge on Drake Road, south of Sallisaw, on Wednesday.

Steve Rutherford, Sequoyah County Emergency Management director, said the call came in at about 11:50 a.m. and the McKey, Vian, RFD 1 and Sallisaw Fire Departments responded and were able to get the man out of his pickup truck and back to land using the boat provided to the McKey Department.

The man was driving west on the county road in a pickup and pulling a small flatbed trailer, Rutherford said, when he tried to cross Low Water Bridge and he, the truck and trailer were swept off the bridge.

The man was treated at the scene by Pafford EMS. 

“That water was cold,” Rutherford said.

He added the man called for help on his mobile phone.

Wednesday’s rescue was the first this year at that Low Water Bridge, and fire departments had two or three water rescues at the same bridge last year, Rutherford said.

“The Sequoyah County Commissioners have plans in the process to improve that road and bridge,” Rutherford said.

In Adair County, a 53-year-old Stilwell resident drowned Wednesday when his vehicle was swept off a low water bridge on East 830 Road, three miles east of Stilwell.

Victor French was pronounced deceased at the scene by Pafford EMS, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported. That incident is still under investigation.

Rutherford reminded residents, “Turn around. Don’t drown.”

Heavy rains continued throughout the weekend causing flooding across roadways and low water bridges across the county.(Photo Courtesy of Craig Edgmon)

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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