2 Overflowing Rivers Force 2,000 Kansans to Evacuate

Two rain-swollen rivers on either side of town flooded Tuesday, forcing more than 2,000 people from their homes, and the National Guard was sent in to prevent looting.

By the end of the day, about 40% of Arkansas City was expected to be flooded, said Jim Lazelle, assistant civil defense director.

One man is presumed drowned in the Arkansas River to the west after telling a friend he was going for a swim, Sheriff Bob Odell said. Farther north, near Newton, Kan., a woman was swept away to her death when she drove her car onto a road that had been barricaded.

The problem started Tuesday morning, when the Walnut River east of this city of 12,000 near the Oklahoma state line broke through a levee, inundating 300 homes.

Some people, like Howard Meador, thought they were safe. He said a new dike, built after a 1995 flood, was supposed to protect the neighborhood from flooding. However, it only channeled more water into town after the old levee broke.

“I dropped my flood insurance last year,” Meador said. “I thought I was safe.”

Lazelle said the new flood protection system is incomplete, so the new dike did not malfunction. Had it been finished, the levee would never have broken, he said.

That was little consolation for Richard Osborne, who spent Monday night sandbagging the middle school in the belief his own home would be safely protected by the dike. He dropped his flood insurance after paying off his mortgage three weeks ago.

“I never thought anything was going to happen with these new dikes,” he said.

Meanwhile, the city’s 10 wells have been flooded, and residents have less than 20 hours of drinking water left in reserve, said Ron Parker, environmental superintendent.

Once that runs out, the city will resort to river water. The treated river water would be safe to drink, but it will have taste and odor problems, Parker said.

“This is not going to be over tomorrow or the next day,” City Manager Curtis Freeland said.

On Tuesday morning, assessment teams from the Federal Emergency Management Administration and state and local officials went to the flooded areas to see if they are severe enough to trigger a presidential disaster declaration.

Augusta, Kan., a town of about 8,700 residents in Butler County, was hard hit as water from the Whitewater and Walnut rivers topped a 35-foot levee. The problems were compounded when the town’s waste-water treatment plant shut down and toilets sent raw sewage into the downtown area.

In all, eight counties were declared disaster areas by Gov. Bill Graves.

National Guard personnel were on duty in all affected areas, including an Air National Guard detachment sent to Arkansas City from Wichita on Monday night to prevent looting.

In northern Oklahoma, 166 people had to be evacuated from their homes in Blackwell, one of the hardest hit communities.