MONDAY, JULY 2, 2007 | STATE NEWS | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 17
STATE
Floods threaten Kansas, Missouri
State of emergency declared in 12 Kansas counties
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Theola Williams, center, of Frontenac, is helped out of the water Saturday by Dave Goble, right, manager of Crawford State Park in Farlington, and an unidentified deputy sheriff after being rescued from the top of a flooded pickup at the lake. Williams and Randy Bander were reportedly trapped on the roof of the vehicle for about two hours.
Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Storms packing more rain and rough weather hit southwest Missouri and southeast Kansas on Saturday, sparking flash flooding and evacuations, officials said.
Besides the rain, tornadoes or funnel clouds were reported in several southwest Missouri counties, including Polk, Greene, Webster, Dallas and Christian.
"We did have a report of a barn destroyed in Polk County, and we are still awaiting any other potential damage reports," said John Campbell, an operations officer for the State Emergency Management.
Voluntary evacuations were under way Saturday in Iola, Kan. said Corey Schinstock, assistant city administrator.
"Various sections in the south of town are under water, and the water is climbing." Schinstock said. "We have had over 15 inches of rain the
last three days. ...All the creeks are flooding."
He said the city also disconnected power to several homes in the town of about 6,000 as a safety precaution. There were no reports of injuries, he said.
In Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius declared a state of disaster emergency in 12 counties.
The declaration covers Anderson, Butler, Bourbon, Coffey, Cowley, Chautaqua, Linn, Montgomery, Neosho, Osage, Wilson and Woodson counties, all in southeast Kansas.
These counties will be added to an earlier state declaration for the storm period, beginning May 21. The state will seek to have all affected counties included in a federal disaster declaration.
Officials in Kansas and Missouri say the full extent of the weekend's storms could take days to play out, with rain-swollen rivers in western Missouri continuing to rise into next week.
Several of those are in Vernon
Campbell said the National Weather Service had forecast additional rain in areas of west-central Missouri south of U.S. 50 and west of U.S.65.
County in Missouri.
He said the Little Osage River and the Marmaton River are both forecast to crest ten feet above flood stage on Monday. If the rivers go up another foot beyond that, it could
affect U.S. 71, a major north-south highway between Kansas City and Joplin.
The Marais des Cygnes in Bates County is expected to crest at ten and one half feet above flood stage, also on Monday.
And Campbell said the Osage River at Shell City is expected to crest at 13 feet above flood stage on Thursday.
Father who starved kids sentenced to more jail
WICHITA — The father of two young girls found starving in their home last year has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.
Alex Wood was arrested last July with his wife, Jennifer Wood, after a social worker found the girls, ages 6 and 7, starving and dehydrated in the basement of their south Wichita home.
Wood had pleaded guilty to two counts of felony child abuse. His wife, Jennifer Wood, had pleaded guilty to those counts, as well as one count of aggravated battery.
However, the sentence Alex Wood received Thursday is about 18 months longer than the one handed down to his wife on June 8.
Sedgwick County District Judge David Kaufman said he did not let the length of the wife's sentence influence his decision. Kaufman faulted Alex Wood for not protecting his daughters and seeing "that they are dying before your eyes."
Wood's public defender, Jama Mitchell, had argued that although Wood neglected his girls, he did not starve them.
Associated Press
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