There’s a lesson to be learned from the historic rain and flooding in Tulsa and Northeast Oklahoma.

Don’t build too close to a river.

The sod farms in Bixby are a good example of what should be next to a major river. When (not if) the Arkansas River floods, if river water covers a sod farm, there is minimal damage.

That is in stark contrast to damage done to neighborhoods built in a floodplain or businesses that cozy up to the riverbank.

As much as possible, people should be free to develop their property as they wish. The problem when structures are built beside a river is that it’s not just property owners that are affected by a flood. Insurance rates go up for everyone. Physical danger increases. Public services – including police, fire and others – are forced to extend their operational budgets to protect people.

The free market should take care of some of this problem. Anyone buying a home in South Tulsa, Sand Springs, Bixby, Jenks and Muskogee should check the elevation and the prospects of flooding.

A problem in Tulsa is that city officials and the chamber overlords desperately want to spend tax money to build stuff right on the river. If officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were able to speak freely, they would say that this is folly. People can enjoy looking at the river without building expensive structures right on the banks.

In May, Tulsa didn’t have a 100-year flood or a 500-year flood. It experienced a 33-year flood (since 1986).

The lessons are clear. It’s doubtful city officials will act to minimize future floods as common sense dictates.