It feels like we’ve been getting rained on for two months just practically nonstop. All of this comes after the wettest 12 months in the US since records began. On top of that, a near record number of tornadoes has whipped through the region, smashing homes and claiming nearly 40 lives so far. Weeks of flooding is drowning large parts of the midwest, wrecking communities and turning farms into inland seas.

The fate of Barker and the rest of Sand Springs, along with the neighbouring city of Tulsa and communities down the the Arkansas River, hung less on the torrential downpour than what was happening hundreds of miles to the north. “It feels like we’ve been getting rained on for two months just practically nonstop. “I packed my suitcase and my papers and my medicine in my car this morning so that if I have to leave I can load my animals in and I can go,” said the 57-year-old civil servant. That would depend not only on whether the rain kept coming but, more importantly, where it fell. If they announced they were opening the gates another couple of notches, it would be time to run.

Over the following days, Barker paid close attention to the dam’s engineers.

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