Post by blackcrowheart on Aug 23, 2007 11:41:29 GMT -5
Official's wife, daughter die in flooding
Rescue workers gather around a van recovered from a flooded creek bed near Carnegie on Sunday. Workers found three bodies inside the van, which was swept from State Highway 58 after midnight Saturday. By Ron Jackson, The Oklahoman
CARNEGIE — Rescue divers found three bodies in a submerged minivan Sunday in a flooded creek south of Carnegie, after the vehicle was swept away by a flash flood early Sunday morning.
Dorita Horse, 77, her daughter, Helen Horse, 34, and a niece, Rose Saddleblanket, 17, of Carnegie were last seen when their Dodge Caravan rolled off State Highway 58 shortly after midnight Saturday.
Their bodies were found shortly after 5 p.m., ending a 17-hour search.
"My mother's body was found in the van, but we know her spirit is in heaven,” Norman Bessie James said of her mother Dorita. "She knew Jesus.”
Watching helplessly
Kiowa tribal Chairman Billy Evans Horse, Dorita's husband, witnessed the van drift away as he stood helplessly atop a stalled truck.
The Horse family was returning from a powwow in Lawton.
"We were driving through flash floods, and I told my nephew (Earl Littleman) to slow down,” said Horse, his eyes glazed.
"When we reached the bridge, our truck stalled. Water was about four or five feet high, up to our windows.
"We crawled onto the roof and tried to warn them to stop. But they drove past us, and the current must have grabbed them. We saw them go off the road and float away like a boat. We didn't see them after that.”
Littleman desperately followed the fringe of the raging waters for nearly two hours before authorities were notified, Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Lt. Shane Fitzwater said.
Fitzwater said an official search couldn't begin until after daybreak due to the dangerous night conditions.
"It must have been terrifying,” Fitzwater said.
‘Pillar in this community'
Rescue workers began searching the flooded terrain at daybreak, using johnboats, divers and sonar.
Nearby, a large contingent of Horse family members solemnly waited and prayed.
"I called Mom about 12:30 (a.m.) to see where they were at,” said James, one of Billy and Dorita's 11 children. "I wanted her to stay put because of the rain and flash flooding, but she said they were already driving back from the powwow. I told her to call me at 1 (a.m.) when they got home safe.
"She never called.”
James shook her head in disbelief.
"She's a pillar in this community,” James said of her mother. "All her life she has been a wonderful woman, a prayerful woman.”
Mary Montgomery, another of the Horse children, wept softly.
"The water just picked them up and carried them away,” Montgomery said. "It's hard to believe this has happened.”
"The water just picked them up and carried them away. It's hard to believe this has happened.”
Mary Montgomery
Rescue workers gather around a van recovered from a flooded creek bed near Carnegie on Sunday. Workers found three bodies inside the van, which was swept from State Highway 58 after midnight Saturday. By Ron Jackson, The Oklahoman
CARNEGIE — Rescue divers found three bodies in a submerged minivan Sunday in a flooded creek south of Carnegie, after the vehicle was swept away by a flash flood early Sunday morning.
Dorita Horse, 77, her daughter, Helen Horse, 34, and a niece, Rose Saddleblanket, 17, of Carnegie were last seen when their Dodge Caravan rolled off State Highway 58 shortly after midnight Saturday.
Their bodies were found shortly after 5 p.m., ending a 17-hour search.
"My mother's body was found in the van, but we know her spirit is in heaven,” Norman Bessie James said of her mother Dorita. "She knew Jesus.”
Watching helplessly
Kiowa tribal Chairman Billy Evans Horse, Dorita's husband, witnessed the van drift away as he stood helplessly atop a stalled truck.
The Horse family was returning from a powwow in Lawton.
"We were driving through flash floods, and I told my nephew (Earl Littleman) to slow down,” said Horse, his eyes glazed.
"When we reached the bridge, our truck stalled. Water was about four or five feet high, up to our windows.
"We crawled onto the roof and tried to warn them to stop. But they drove past us, and the current must have grabbed them. We saw them go off the road and float away like a boat. We didn't see them after that.”
Littleman desperately followed the fringe of the raging waters for nearly two hours before authorities were notified, Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Lt. Shane Fitzwater said.
Fitzwater said an official search couldn't begin until after daybreak due to the dangerous night conditions.
"It must have been terrifying,” Fitzwater said.
‘Pillar in this community'
Rescue workers began searching the flooded terrain at daybreak, using johnboats, divers and sonar.
Nearby, a large contingent of Horse family members solemnly waited and prayed.
"I called Mom about 12:30 (a.m.) to see where they were at,” said James, one of Billy and Dorita's 11 children. "I wanted her to stay put because of the rain and flash flooding, but she said they were already driving back from the powwow. I told her to call me at 1 (a.m.) when they got home safe.
"She never called.”
James shook her head in disbelief.
"She's a pillar in this community,” James said of her mother. "All her life she has been a wonderful woman, a prayerful woman.”
Mary Montgomery, another of the Horse children, wept softly.
"The water just picked them up and carried them away,” Montgomery said. "It's hard to believe this has happened.”
"The water just picked them up and carried them away. It's hard to believe this has happened.”
Mary Montgomery