In earlier floods, an interested audience relied on local TV, Radio and Newspapers for information about the rising flood waters. News was limited to the morning, evening and 6 o’clock news along with the morning newspaper. In the last flood, a local television station set up a camera with a live feed of the spillway and thousands watched live as the waters begin to flow over the edge. The live coverage was good but nothing compared to the media explosion experienced during the 2015 flood.

Enter the popularity of social media and smart phone technology. Thousands of Facebook post, Tweets, Instagram photos, YouTube videos and Pinterest Boards were created as area residents, visitors, local fishing guides, and marina staff became citizen reporters. A continuous stream of photos created a play-by-play commentary on the internet as the rains kept coming and the waters rose. Local news media was quick to post on social media as well. Tulsa District Corps of Engineers posted multiple times a day with the latest information, photos and videos of all the lakes in the district.

Lake Texoma became word wide news. A rare video released by the Corps of Engineers of the intake vortex created as the water entered the Denison Dam spillway became headlines that screamed “Draining a Texas lake like a bathtub” in blog post and magazine articles from as far away as Australia, Europe and Asia. The video had 175,000 Facebook views, was shared 15,417 times and had 2,557,357 views on YouTube.

I watched the American Legion Post 231, Grandpappy Marina, Highport Marina and Eisenhower State Park pack their bags and head to higher ground. I watched Highport open the doors to the Island Bar and Grill and as the flood waters rose, kayaks floated through the bar like a ride at Disney World.

The kayaks were on stage at Hwy 91 as well, floating the rapids going through what was once a major highway from Texas to the Dam and on to Calera Oklahoma. I didn’t know there were so many canoes and kayaks on Lake Texoma until the flood. They were everywhere – shuttling folks from parking areas to boat slips, to properties that were now located on islands and to bypass sections of entrance roads covered by flood waters.

The closing of major roadways and bridges was also well covered in social media as they closed, opened, closed again and finally as the waters receded and they opened for good. At least most of them did. Hwy 91 will not open again until sometime in 2016. Social media became a major communication link covering these road conditions faster than local media professionals could.

Social Media was also a way for Lake Texoma residents to learn about what was coming their way from upstream. Multiple videos showed the swollen, raging red river in the Wichita area barreling down on Lake Texoma. The inflow was much higher than the flood release. As we all looked at these photos and videos, we knew the lake was about to rise a lot and rise quickly.
Local pilots took numerous videos of the water rushing over the spillway, the flood gate release and the flooded banks of the Red River downstream. Aerial photos and videos showed marinas almost totally flooded. They captured fishing guides navigating the rapids caused by the release. A friend related this to being both a “white water rapids adventure and a fishing trip combined”. One marina created a 145 day live stream of the 2015 Flood and presented it in a 2 minute video on YouTube.

As Tropical Storm Bill blew through the Big Mineral area, photos were posted of mangled steel and boathouses washed up on shore. The numerous boathouses that broke loose to float aimlessly around the lake were also photographed, videoed and posted on social media. Sad and funny at the same time, although I think the funny part was almost a hysterical reaction. One marina owner posted that their “fuel dock would now be located on the other side” of the marina. I am happy to report that it has now been returned to its original location and hopefully the fuel tank will be reset this week and they will be pumping gas by Labor Day weekend.

The daily struggles and accomplishments of marina owners were posted on social media. Slip and rental owners were grateful for the updates and scanned the social media scene in hopes of seeing what condition their property or their favorite Lake Texoma destination was in. We all “liked” and “shared” these posts, not because we liked what they said but because we were grateful for the updates. I often wished Facebook had a “dislike” button.

This new media coverage created transparency too. Updates on social media helped bridge the gap between marina owners and their tenants, letting them know step by step what they were doing to first protect their property, then as the waters receded reporting their recovery efforts.

It also created a new perspective. It is one thing to try to visualize 5 feet of water but when you actually see a kayak paddling around the parking lot of a Marina you get a whole new perspective. Postings of steel post sticking out of the water, bent like a pipe cleaner gave us a new perspective of how powerful moving water can be. The same can be said for photos of the interior of buildings that had been totally covered by the water. As the water receded we saw walls completely washed away, ceiling tiles just disappeared, metal exteriors bent back like the flap of an envelope. My heart was breaking for these property owners and I really wanted a “dislike” button bad!

As the rains stopped and the flood waters receded, the news kept coming. As electric service providers restored power, fuel pumps were reset, walkways repaired and water restored to boathouses, every accomplishment was posted on social media.

The Lake is well on its way to recovery. Boat ramps, fuel docks and campgrounds are beginning to open. Cabin, Jet Ski and boat rentals are becoming available again, not quite 100%, but very close. It will be a while before some of the restaurants will be rebuilt. Some hope to be operational by November; others are planning huge New Year Eve celebrations.

The Corps of Engineers predicted that Lake Texoma would reach normal level of 617 by Labor Day. If that happens, you can safely bet it will be all over social media. Keep your cell phone handy….there is more to come!