According to newsok.com, Tahlequah received 9.09 inches of rain over the period of April 22 to the 25. The rain caused flood warning for the Illinois River beginning on the 27^th at 7 a.m. The river elevated to 20.94 feet and the average flood stage is 11 feet.

            Many students and teachers were heavily affected by the storm.  Some could no travel from home to work because of flooded roads being closed off, some had to wake up early to make sure their family business would not float off with the river, and some people had severe house damage.

            Seniors Alli and Leah Whelan were unable to return to their homes after school until the 27^th because the roads to their house were completely flooded and impassable.

            “It was pretty much a lake! I couldn’t go home for about 4 days and had to stay in town,” said Alli Whelan, 12^th.

            Family and Consumer Science teacher, Elsie Morris, could not get to work on the 25^th because of the major highways, highway 10 and OK 62, from her house were closed.

            “Later on that day Oklahoma transportation closed down all secondary roads around me, so I had to stay home that day,” said Morris.

            Shawn Eller had to constantly be on his toes during the rain in order to protect his family’s business that is on the Illinois River. At first he just had to just move canoes out of the shallow water with a friend, but as the flooding progressed it took his family plus to move all their supplies to safety.

            “Our new office mat we built was built so that the water would not reach the office, but the water did reach it and more. The river has not been that high since the flood of 1916,” said Eller, 11.