Lawton Flooding: Museum Damage Sparks Community Outrage

Lots of areas around Lawton, Oklahoma, are experiencing significant damage from the recent heavy rainfall and flooding. One of the places that is having to bandage persistent leaks is the Museum of the Great Plains. The museum recently shared several images of all the leaks and citizens are taking to social media to call out city officials for not prioritizing repairs at the museum.

Oklahoma has officially seen the wettest April in the state's history. Lawton and surrounding areas have seen over 17 inches of rain from April 1-30 this year. Most of that rain was received on Saturday, April 26 and through the final days of April.

Several areas across town flooded on Saturday and on Wednesday, April 30. Damage was made to various homes and businesses. People lost their cars to swift flood waters. And one fatality was recorded.

Museum of the Great Plains closed Saturday due to storms in Lawton.

Due to the storms, the Museum of the Great Plains closed on Saturday. The museum hadn't shared images of the museum's damage until Wednesday. Followers could see images of buckets filled with water, puddles in the middle of the floor, leaking water on the sides of walls, ceiling damage and water destroying archived history of southwest Oklahoma.

The museum hasn't commented about the damage but has let the pictures speak for themselves.

Lawton residents upset by the destruction at the Museum of the Great Plains.

Several Lawton citizens have taken to social media to express their concern for the Museum of the Great Plains and have called out city officials for not taking care of the damage at the museum sooner. Hundreds of citizens have commented on the museum's Facebook posts expressing their unhappiness with the lack of support from city officials.

The Museum of the Great Plains suffered significant damage to the museum's roof after a massive hail storm in 2023. In October 2024, the Lawton City Council approved a 5.7 million dollar project to repair the museum's roof that will be covered by the city's 2040 CIP.

Guernsey, an architecture firm out of Oklahoma City, is handling the architectural and engineering services and will oversee the bidding process for construction. As of Wednesday, April 30, there has not been any updates on where the project is at since it was approved last year.