For a region known for its blinding sun and sweltering heat, rainfall is often a blessed relief.
Over the past week or so, torrential rainfall has forced outdoor workers to adapt to wet working conditions.
“There’s nothing good about all this rain,” Stroud Lake ranger Jared Null said. “I mean, I guess Oklahoma needed it, but I didn’t. Not this lake.”
Stroud Lake rose by several feet last week.
“My beach is literally underwater still,” Null said on Friday.
He had to move his boat, since the higher water levels meant travelling through waist deep water to reach his boat ramp, he said.
The extra rain makes completing tasks more difficult.
“I planned on having a lot of sand brought in before the Fourth of July for my beach,” Null said. “We got about two loads in and he sunk—the truck sunk on my beach and literally left huge, about up to my knee, holes trying to get out.”
The flooding also poses risks to lake visitors.
“People like to drive as close as they can to the water to fish,” Null said, “and with it being as wet as it is, I mean, the water up as high as it is right now, I mean, I’d be afraid they’d slide into the lake. So, we try to keep everyone off certain areas.”
Null said he’d never personally seen someone slide a vehicle into the lake, but that it could happen.
“There’s a mudding area, way before my time, where kids used to come out,” he said. “Well, they’d come out there and mud around on our east side. Well, this guy got out there a few years ago, and was doing that in his truck and actually blew his truck up.”
Null said some of his summer hands heard the explosion and that everyone was alright.
“Fortunately, someone, way before me, was smart enough to build gates around our lake,” Null said. “So, we do have certain areas where we can just lock off to keep people from going too far back. And that’s normally what we’ll do.”
Many of the areas remained open.
“With all the rest areas that are open, most of it’s within eyesight of me,” he said. “So, if something was to happen like that, I could get out there, you know, and help them.”
Null said visitors to the
“You have no clue what’s out in the lake, especially when it’s full like this, so it’s just dangerous out on the boat-wise,” he said, “and for safety, cautious of being out there swimming around.”
The high water levels could hide potential dangers just under the surface that could sink or damage a boat, he said.
Additionally, vehicles could end up stuck in muddy or wet ground.
While lake rangers faced extra challenges, other businesses had to press pause on their normal activities.
For example, Great Plains Lawn and Tree Service went from serving an average of 40 or 50 lawns in a typical week to serving none.
“I don’t think we mowed one yard last week,” owner Zach Schevetto said.
He uses the rainy days to take care of other business, such as maintenance on his equipment.
“I’m pretty picky when I cut a yard, and it has to be the perfect condition for me to cut it,” Schevetto said.
“I see other companies out cutting grass when the grass is wet, and I won’t do that. It has to be completely dry—whether I’m behind or not.”
So, the recent rain has caused schedule delays for his business.
“You know, if we could get it, just one day per week of rain would be awesome, but when you get it 10 days’ worth, then that puts you behind,” he said. “Most people are understanding but some are not.”
Waiting for lawns to dry before cutting them is necessary in order to ensure a quality result, Schevetto said.
“I’ve got some pretty class properties, like the Chandler Courthouse is one of them,” he said, “so, it’s got to look pristine.”
He’s not often delayed by rain for long.
“That’s a good thing about Oklahoma, it dries up fast,” Schevetto said. “You know we get, we get a lot of rain but once the sun pops up and wind, you can usually mow the next day.”
Putting in long days helps to catch up.
“There’s been many times I worked until 10 o’clock at night, it’d be dark, then I would have to stop,” he said, “—make up for the previous days I didn’t get to work because of heavy rainfall.”
Sudden downpours cause a different set of problems for roofing projects, such as those handled by Charlie’s Roofing, Siding, Windows & More.
“I have been on roofs in driving downpours, trying to get them locked in to where they won’t leak,” owner Charlie Wilson said.
“And that’s what you have to do—you have to stay up there and get them, at least get them fixed to where it won’t leak.”
The important part is keeping an eye on the weather.
“Whenever you can you’ve got to keep doing your job, you just have to work in-between the rains and keep things covered up so nothing leaks,” Wilson said.
Ideally, switching to working on indoor projects, such as replacing flooring, allows businesses like Wilson’s to comfortably keep working despite the rain.