What did the May 2015 rain mean for Oklahoma City?
Oklahoma City's airport recorded 7.10 inches of rain on the night of May 6, 2015, a figure the National Weather Service confirmed, according to a regional news report. The same week the Flash Flood Emergency was issued for the south Oklahoma City metro. A ZIP code is a smaller piece of that metro, and this page does not name any particular street in ZIP 73159 as affected.
What the record does show is how the rain behaved across the whole city. Statewide, May 2015 was the wettest month on record, with an average of 14.41 inches. A month like that puts pressure on roofs, drains and the ground around every foundation, and the readings inside each house tell the crew how far it has to go.
Where did Oklahoma City's storm water go afterward?
In July 2023 water from Moore and Oklahoma City flowed down through Norman into Lake Thunderbird, and city officials called the flooding an ongoing problem. Storm water from the city moves through creeks and channels on a long route, and the lake is where much of it collects downstream. A home in the city can be wet from a source far from the house, which is why the crew traces the water into the building rather than assuming where it came from.
The routes differ from one part of the city to another, and this page does not map them. What it can say is that the crew reads the water where it is found and follows it into the walls and floors, and the drying plan is built from those readings rather than from the name of a waterway. See structural drying for how that plan is set.
What does a technician read in a house in this ZIP code?
The first readings are taken where the water is and at the lowest part of the house. Moisture meters read the floor, the walls and the cavity behind them, and the wet zone is marked on a sketch so it can be checked on the next visit. Garages, utility rooms and rooms with a floor drain are read early, because water often gathers in them first.
The crew then reads upward. A wall that is dry at the floor may be wet at the top plate, and an attic can hold water when the ceiling below looks fine. The technician keeps the readings for each material, so the owner can see when every part of the house has reached its dry target.
What should a 73159 owner ask and keep?
Ask for the scope in writing before the work starts, including what will be removed and what will be dried in place. The price is explained and approved on site, and this site publishes no figure for it. Ask which licences, registrations and permits apply to the job, and check the written contract before you sign.
Keep the photographs, the readings and the receipts together. The Oklahoma Insurance Department is the state regulator for insurance claims, and it is the place to go with a dispute that the insurer and the owner cannot settle between them. The policy decides what is covered.
