OKLAHOMA CITY, July 9 (UPI) -- Heavy rain crippled parts of Oklahoma City as thunderstorms in central and southwestern Oklahoma Friday triggered flash-flood warnings, authorities said.
TV news helicopters showed several homes near the city's Lightning Creek with water up to their windows.
State and interstate highways were shut down for several hours because of high water, The Oklahoman reported.
Businesses let workers go home early. Airline flights into and out of Will Rogers World Airport were canceled.
Much of Oklahoma City's south side lies within the watershed of Lightning Creek, a tributary of the Oklahoma River.
A 13-year-old girl playing around a drainage ditch near Durant, 150 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, was swept to her death in 3 to 4 feet of water Thursday -- the third child killed in Oklahoma flooding in less than a week.
The National Weather Service said its flash-flood warning would be in effect until 10 p.m. CDT Friday. Most likely flood targets were areas that already received heavy rainfall this week, it said.
