Flooding Overwhelms Homes and Businesses in Kansas Town

Jul 01, 08:00 PM

Current Headlines: OSAWATOMIE, Kan. _ Relentless flooding from two rain-swollen waterways swept into homes and businesses Sunday after the rains had stopped and even as sunshine broke through the clouds.

"This is scary," Gary Gatewood, 46, said as cousins with a sixth pickup-truck load of his family's possessions drove out ahead of the rising waters of Pottawatomie Creek.

He stood in the humid sunshine with his 8-year-old son, Ryan _ among the more than 2,000 people in this town of 4,600 who were ordered to evacuate early Sunday as it became clear that Pottawatomie Creek to the south and possibly the Marais des Cygnes River to the north were both going to surge over their levees.

Though hard hit, Osawatomie was not alone in its flood woes. Numerous creeks and rivers throughout southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri leapt from their banks following several days of heavy rains. Highways and roads were closed by the rising waters and residents were evacuated from several towns.

Despite the floodwaters, no deaths or serious injuries had been reported as of Sunday evening. No estimates of damages had been made, but forecasters said it could be days before the waterways begin returning to normal.

"I got my dogs, Maxie and Gidget," Ryan Gatewood said, counting the things he had seen carried away to safety, "my Game Boy, my Pokemon, my Power Rangers ..."

It had been just a couple of hours earlier, around 10 a.m. CDT, that the first floodwaters overtaking the levee holding back Pottawatomie Creek swirled on Sixth Street a couple of hundred yards south of their home. But now the brown water lapped at their curb. It was time to go.

"We've seen tornadoes," Gatewood said. "But we've never been through a flood."

People with loaded cars, pickup trucks, trailers and fishing boats spent the day driving or floating their possessions to higher ground. Some homes were half submerged, yet others remained untouched.

While the Pottawatomie overflowed, volunteers who had been sandbagging all night continued to shore up leaks in the levee holding back the rising Marais des Cygnes. But the major worry was not leaks. The big fear was that the river would completely top the levee.

"We are at the mercy of the river," said assistant police chief Bob Butters.

Kansas National Guard units from Paola and half a dozen surrounding fire departments arrived to help police and Miami County sheriff's officers with the evacuation and to protect the homes and businesses left behind. More than 200 people were given shelter in an elementary school in town. Others were staying with relatives. Mayor Phil Dudley said that the town's senior-citizen high-rise was evacuated, but that the Osawatomie State Hospital was not in danger of flooding. Authorities established a command post there to help with the evacuation.

Officials said the water levels were the highest seen since 1951, when the Marais des Cygnes flooded the town.

"The 1951 flood was legendary," said resident Ed Maichel as he packed belongings into family cars. "That devastated the community and now it looks worse than that. Nobody expected this much."

All morning and into the afternoon, friends and strangers came to help neighbors evacuate.

A regular full crowd came through for breakfast at the Whistle Stop Cafe on the south side of town, said Dixie Benner. She and her husband, Steve, spent 4 { years building the restaurant they've run for two years.

At midmorning, when Dixie began taking pictures off the wall, most of the customers pitched in and began helping load up everything that could be carried out into an impromptu fleet of trucks and vans. Several left loaded with food from their freezers bound for a Price Chopper grocery store that had room in its freezers.

"Just a lot of friends out looking around to see where they can help," Dixie said.

Michael Liu, 28, stood at the edge of the rising flood, watching from about 100 yards away as the water slowly overtook his restaurant, Mulan.

He had just come from New York City a little more than a month ago to take over the business from his cousin.

"It's going to destroy my restaurant," he said.

Nearby, 48-year-old William Wright leaned against the railing of the porch of his home, planning to stand guard at least until the water reached the porch _ which wouldn't be long.

Like everyone else in the neighborhood, he'd been awakened around 6 a.m. by a knock on the door by police. Now everything inside was stacked up as high on shelves as possible and his car waited up the street for his escape.

"All we've got in the world is in this house," he said.

The scene in Osawatomie was repeated Sunday in other towns in southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri.

"It's going to be a few days before we get some of the higher rivers to come down," said Maren Stoflet, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Pleasant Hill. The Marais des Cygnes at La Cygne and Osawatomie may not begin lowering until late Wednesday or early Thursday, she said.

In Independence and Coffeyville, officials were preparing for additional flooding along the Verdigris River, which already has set record levels, as the Army Corps of Engineers planned to open floodgates at the Elk City and Fall River Toronto Lake reservoirs farther upstream to alleviate pressure.

"Releasing the water may not cause the river to crest higher, but it may cause the crest to remain for a longer period of time," said Robb Lawson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Wichita. "It's pretty unbelievable," Lawson said, adding that he expected most of the rivers to begin dropping Monday or early Tuesday.

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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): KANSASFLOODING

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