Water rescues were performed all over Nowata, Osage and Washington counties during a two week period in May when flood waters covered the area.

Fire Chief John Banks said the Bartlesville Fire Department was roughly involved in 25 water rescues.

Washington County did most of the livestock rescues in the area. The BFD, Chief Banks said, relied heavily on the County and neighboring fire departments when things got overwhelming.

The Bartlesville Fire Department put in approximately 40-hours of work performing water rescues from May 20th on. 20 extra guys were added on to help in the water rescue efforts.

Chief Banks said people were not really in harm’s way in most cases. He said they simply needed to get out of their flooded structures.

There were other instances where people were trapped in their vehicles because they drove into floodwaters. Chief Banks said no known casualties were caused by floodwaters in the Bartlesville or Washington County area.