Rains force 600 to leave Oklahoma park

Thunderstorms caused flooding and forced the evacuation of more than 600 people from Turner Falls Park in Oklahoma, officials said. No injuries were reported. The evacuation began at 11 a.m. Sunday, The Daily Ardmoreite, Ardmore, Okla., reported. Darryl McCurtain, the emergency management officer at Davis and the community's vice mayor, estimated the park received about 5 inches of rain from the storms, which hit the area early Sunday. The Chickasaw Nation's Red Cross helped with the evacuation effort, McCurtain said, along with people from local communities and the Davis Fire Department. "We have had tremendous help from the county, Davis and Sulphur," McCurtain said. "The churches have pitched in and brought food and we borrowed buses from the school to transport people." About 80 people elected to stay overnight in cabins in the park. Some campers who evacuated left vehicles and other belongings behind, McCurtain said. "We are hoping the creek will go down enough so they can get some of their vehicles and stuff out," he said. "We hope the water can recede before more rain Monday night."