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Water Tops Spillway at Lake Texoma 1957, 1990, 2007, 2015 Paris News
May 28, 1957 Texoma Goes Over Spillway Denison - Huge Lake Texoma, on the Red River on the Oklahoma border, went over the spillway today for the first time since it was built 13 years ago. Army engineers said the dam was designed to reach spillway level only once in 100 years. The Engineers said they expected no serious new downstream flooding from the 2-inch over flow from the spillway. The river already was at a serious height below the dam. The Yellow Jacket Boat Co. and the Theakston Corp., below the dam, were evacuated during the night. About 350 employees of the two firms will be idled until water goes down. Red River's Flood Threat Is Subsiding Lamar County's portion of Red River bottom survived the worst flood conditions in the last 17 years with a minimum of damage reported Tuesday. Water that flooded U.S. Highway 271 north of the bridge early Monday retreated during the afternoon although a large area of land west of the highway was still innundated. The river level dropped three and a half feet within 24 hours. The Monday morning reading at 24.96 was the highest since Denison Dam was erected. Mrs. Volney Womack reported 21.23 feet Tuesday morning. The threat to close U.S. 271 never materialized. Water was six inches deep over the highway and left considerable debris on the right of way. Oklahoma State Trooper Hubert Hibben patrolled the area. Lake Texoma roared over its spillway about midnight Monday. What effect this flow will have on the downstream level remains to be seen. Maximum discharge over the spillway will not exceed maximum flow through flood gates, however. Floodgates have been closed for several days. The latest flooding, which marooned scores of cattle along Lamar County bottomlands, came from swollen streams between Arthur City and the dam. Flood gates will re-open, Army Engineers explained, when there is no danger of downstream flooding. Lake Texoma reached its highest level when water surged over the spillway. The lake area covered 146,000 acres. At normal level the lake covers 95,000 acres. Fair weather brought long awaited relief to rain weary Lamar Countians. The current dry spell spread to three consecutive days. Total rainfall remained a record. 34.50 inches.  Posted by David Pennington In
1957 the spillway was sod covered concrete, where people would take a
picnic lunch and chldren would play, running up and down. The sod
covering was washed away when the spillway went over. Source : Save Lake Texoma FaceBook Burns Run Resort, 1957  Lake Texoma Spillway Overflow 1957 Lake Texoma Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |