Osawatomie, Kan. – Flooding worsened Sunday across parts of Kansas and Missouri, forcing more people from their homes, and meteorologists said it could be days before rivers return to normal following days of drenching rainfall on the Plains.
The Kansas National Guard was sent to help with a mandatory evacuation of Osawatomie, a town of 4,600, as the overflowing Pottawatomie Creek inundated neighborhoods and workers struggled to reinforce a levee on the Marais des Cygnes.
Mayor Philip Dudley said 40 percent of the town was under the evacuation order.
“They came and told us to leave at 6:30 this morning,” said Shanda Dehay, 17. “We weren’t able to get anything out.”
Storms across the southern Plains have claimed 11 lives in Texas since more than a week ago, and two Texans were missing. That state has gotten some of the worst of the lingering storm system.
Kansas officials also were preparing for additional flooding at Independence and Coffeyville along the Verdigris River, which already had reached record levels, as the Army Corps of Engineers planned to open floodgates at the Elk City and Fall River Toronto Lake reservoirs upstream.
“When you get up to the point where it’s full, for the safety of the structure and the dam you have to release what’s coming in,” said Andy Kmetz of the Corps’ office in Tulsa, Okla.
The Verdigris River at Independence rose to a record 52.4 feet Sunday morning, shattering the old mark of 47.6 feet and more than 20 feet above flood stage. The Neosho River was expected to set a record late Sunday, cresting at 40.5 feet at Erie, where officials had already evacuated residents. Flood stage is 29 feet.
In north Texas, hundreds of residents near the overflowing Wichita and Brazos rivers remained evacuated from their homes Sunday, uncertain of when they could return.
