Flood in Oklahoma, March 12, 1997

Name: Flood in Oklahoma, March 12, 1997
Start: 1997-03-12T18:00
End: 1997-03-12T18:00
Location: Oklahoma

March 12, 1997 · NWS OUN · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Pushmataha

When: March 12, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Pushmataha forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 34.416, -95.376 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Over a week after heavy rains fell over central and southeastern Oklahoma, some creeks and rivers in southeastern Oklahoma remained in flood. One man drowned when he drove through a flooded area where a lumber road crossed Can Creek about 10 miles northeast of Corinne in Pushmataha County. His vehicle was found about 100 feet downstream from where the road crossed the creek and his body was found another 100 feet downstream.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Flood, Pushmataha	1997-03-12	68	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, March 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5592788.