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Tuesday afternoon the partially clothed body of a young black man was found in the shallow rushing water of a Tulsa creek that feeds into the Arkansas River.

Tulsa police Cpl. Marcus Harper said police could not say for certain that the death was weather related, but there did not appear to be any foul play.

"He was partially clothed, he had one pant leg out of his pants, but that could have been due to the current,” Harper said.

The body was found about 4 p.m. near Wal-Mart at 81st Street and Lewis Avenue.

Harper said police were not releasing the identity of the man until relatives had been notified, but he said the man "frequents that area, quite a bit.”

The Oklahoma medical examiner's office later will make an official ruling on the man's cause of death.

Post-rain forecast

"The main thing is the weather is going to be improving, but that's not hard to do,” National Weather Service forecaster Daryl Williams said.

"We'll see a slow warm-up the rest of the week, with no rain until about Saturday night,” he said.

Tuesday, 2 to 4 inches of rain fell across a large swath of northeast and central eastern Oklahoma, with some spots receiving more than 6 inches.

Meteorologists said the heavy rainfall shifted east and was expected to continue toward western Arkansas through the night Tuesday and this morning. But late-night storms in some parts of far eastern Oklahoma could have produced another 2 to 4 inches of rainfall, with road and river flooding due to the excessive runoff.

Flood warnings continued throughout the day for all but the northwest part of the state, Williams said.

Wagoner was one of several Oklahoma counties that saw heavy flooding Tuesday as promised thunderstorms raked many areas of the state, dropping large amounts of rain.

Nearly 6 inches of rainfall in the last 12 hours prompted road closures and sent emergency rescue personnel scrambling Tuesday morning in Wagoner County.

"We've had several rescues where people have been driving off into high water,” said Randy Cole, Wagoner County emergency management director. "In one place, it was high enough to sweep cars off the road.”

One of the cars washed into a creek was carrying two adults and a 10-month-old baby, but Cole said the swift water rescue was successful and no injuries were reported.

Wagoner County also saw some road closures and at least one house flooded, Cole said. But by 11 a.m., the flooding was finally showing signs of subsiding.

"It has not been a good situation, but right now, the banks are finally receding,” he said.

The heavy rains in Wagoner County prompted the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to close three roads Tuesday morning, including Bakers Road, from U.S. 69 west to Porter; State Highway 16, between Okay and Wagoner; and State Highway 72, south of Coweta at E 191st Street.

Heavy rains also were reported in Muskogee, where firefighters rescued a mother and her four children after the family's minivan was stranded in flood waters.

Assistant Fire Chief Robert Conley said the family was stranded after they drove past a high-water warning sign about 10:30 a.m.

The mother and all four children were rescued from the windows of the vehicle. None were injured.

Sheriff's departments in Adair and Cherokee counties reported no flood related problems with the Illinois River other than a low-water bridge that washed away in the Watts area.

The river is expected to crest at 21.5 feet at 7 a.m. at Watts. Major flooding is expected at 23 feet, the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission said.

The metro area was not totally spared, as wet roads in the Oklahoma City area caused several vehicle accidents, including at least two rollovers.

About 7 a.m., a vehicle flipped on southbound Broadway Extension near the Wilshire Avenue overpass. Traffic was slowed for about an hour at least three miles north of the accident site.

Another rollover accident was reported on southbound Lake Hefner Parkway near State Highway 66.

Later in the afternoon, high water prompted the Oklahoma County sheriff's office to close NW 220 Street between May and Portland avenues.

Flooding wasn't the only problem Tuesday, however, as lightning led to at least one house fire in Tulsa.

Fire crews responded to a house fire on 74th Street.

The blaze was quickly extinguished.

By Brian Sargent and Johnny Johnson
Staff Writers