The Drive:

Waters continue to rise across the midwest this week as heavy rains and saturated soil bring multiple rivers to flood stage. Homes have been destroyed, entire communities are inundated—and in Oklahoma, the historic World War II submarine USS Batfish has re-floated once again nearly fifty years after it was dry docked on display in a park along the Arkansas River.

Aerial video from KOTV News on 6 shows the USS Batfish floating comfortably in at least 15 feet of water on Wednesday as the Arkansas spills over its banks and swamps the city of Muskogee. Normally, the 77-year-old Balao-class submarine serves as the centerpiece for Muskogee’s War Memorial Park, standing bare on a bowl-shaped lawn as both an interactive museum and a point of pride for the region. But these floodwaters have it sailing again like it’s 1943.

RTWT

Reminds me of the flooding on the Susquehanna and its tributaries near my home grounds in Northeastern Pennsylvania back in 1972 when Hurricane Agnes came through. This kind of thing does happen once or twice every century.

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Bartonsville covered bridge being swept down the Williams River.

Hat tips to Norman Zamcheck and Karen L. Myers.