WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) – 8:15 p.m.
Cities in northern Texas and southwestern Oklahoma are ordering some residents to evacuate amid warnings from the National Weather Service about potentially historic flooding.
A judge in Wichita City, Texas, near the Oklahoma border issued an order Saturday urging residents of the city and the surrounding county to evacuate if they live within a half-mile of either side of the Wichita River.
Evacuations also were ordered in Elk City in southwestern Oklahoma after torrential rain forced the closure of part of an interstate highway and threatened to flood homes. Elk City firefighter L.J. Geist said 4.5 inches of rain had fallen on the area that was already saturated by rainfall earlier in the week.
Several roads were impassable Saturday evening in Oklahoma City due to the rainfall.