6A
WEATHER
THE UNIVERSITY OF HAIRY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2007
MOTHER NATURE
Natural disasters rock Kansas hard
Harsh storms and extensive flooding force evacuations
BY JOHN HANNA ASSOCIATED PRESS
WAKARUSA - Nearly two dozen counties were dealing with flooding Tuesday morning as runoff from weekend storms continued to fill creeks and streams.
Bill Miskell, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Emergency Management, said local officials were monitoring waterways and advising residents of the potential for flooding. Nineteen counties have declared local disaster emergencies because of the rising water.
Areas of greatest concern were in Atchison and Doniphan counties along the west bank of the Missouri River.
"We are cautiously optimistic. So much of this dependent on the weather, not just here but north of us. Streams where the potential exists are being monitored," Miskell said.
Some residents near Yoder were being evacuated Tuesday morning as the Arkansas River came out of its banks, said Bill Guy, director of
Emergency Management for Reno County.
Residents in south Hutchinson were sandbagging Tuesday and high water was affecting many roads from Hutchinson to Haven. A few levy breaks were reported along the Arkansas River near Haven.
The conditions have improved from Monday when residents were forced from their homes across the state.
Flooding along the Wakarusa River cut off its namesake community south of Topeka. Residents used boats to rescue 22 people from their homes in the small town, said Willie Peterman, a district chief for an area fire department.
Cow Creek, in central Kansas, rose rapidly from weekend rain that
The only reported death occurred Monday morning in western Butler County, east of Wichita. Sheriff Craig Murphy said Richard Bonner, 58, of Benton, died when his sport utility vehicle overturned and flipped into a water-filled ditch along a gravel road between Benton and Andover.
totaled 10 to 12 inches in some places. In rural Rice County, residents and rescuers used personal watercraft to navigate the high water and evacuate neighbors from stranded homes.
"I think every home within a quarter mile up and down the river is flooded for sure," Saxman resident Chad Mathews told The Hutchinson News. He estimated that Cow Creek was at least one-and-a-quarter miles wide at his home.
In Lyons, Cow Creek was expected to crest Tuesday night at 21 feet
Semi trucks are parked at a flooded truck stop Monday in Salina. Flooding along the Wakarusa River early Monday cut off its namesake community south of Topeka. Residents with boats rescued 22 people from their flooded homes, said Willie Peterman, a district chief for an area fire department.
- roughly 3 feet over flood stage. High water kept several students and a few teachers from reaching Lyons High School and Park Elementary School on Monday.
Charlie Riedel/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Several roads in Reno County also were closed Monday, and authorities were unable to estimate when they would reopen.
Authorities rescued about 500 people early Monday around Topeka, many along the swollen Shunganunga and Soldier creeks in the central and northern parts of
the city, said Dave Bevans, a spokesman for Shawnee County emergency operations. Many were pulled from their homes starting at 2 a.m., and the Red Cross set up a shelter inside the Kansas Expocentre convention hall.
Charlie Riedel/Associated Press
Officials reported similar evacuations by boat in Saline County, about 100 miles to the west, where some locations received 8 inches of rain over the weekend. Flooding forced the evacuation of New Cambria, a town of about 150 people northeast of Salina.
Jarrod Harris watches flood water from Shunga Creek in front of his home in Topeka, Kan. on Monday. The area received more than six inches of rain overnight and more was in the forecast.
Forecasters predicted a diminished chance of new storms in many areas, but across the eastern half of the state, where rivers and creeks had risen and the ground was saturated, people still watched the sky.
In Rossville, northwest of Topeka, Dennis Hall was busy placing sandbags around his split-level ranch home.
"All we can do is wait," Hall said. "We just don't need any more rain."
In Dickinson County, authorities warned people living within 2 miles
of the Smoky Hill River between Solomon and Chapman to expect flooding Tuesday and Wednesday. Sandbagging began Monday.
Evacuations will become manda
tory if the river reaches 29 feet, said Elwood Mayor Lawrence Mays. An early prediction of a crest at 29.5 feet was scaled back because of Monday's lack of rain.
Ival Lawhon Jr/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eric Abbott, with the Missouri Department of Conservation, operates a boat tautest at Big Lake State Park taking people to and from their flooded homes around the lake in Lake Ike Mau.
Todd Weddl/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Karen Odenfelds carries boxes of items from her friend's home Penny Russell as storm waters continue to rise on Monday in Elwood. Residents and businesses in the small Kansas town were evacuating because of the threat of flooding from the rising Missouri River.
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