Kansas towns flee as floodwaters rise
Pastor Dale Morgan
Kansas towns flee as floodwaters rise*
POSTED: 1912 GMT (0312 HKT), May 26, 2007
Story Highlights
• Some towns report up to 2 inches of rain an hour
• Salina still reeling from recent flooding
• Bavaria, Hedville, Ogden among evacuated towns
• Storms bring twisters, but no damage reported
HUTCHINSON, Kansas (AP) -- Torrential rainfall hit parts of the Plains
and Midwest, flooding towns in Kansas through Friday, toppling trees and
power lines and pelting the countryside with hail.
Some central Kansas towns recorded as much as 7 inches of rain -- in
some places up to 2 inches per hour -- starting Wednesday.
The deluge closed dozens of roads, some flooded for the second time in
three weeks, said Dean Speaks, deputy emergency management director for
Saline County.
"It's taken out the roads that we fixed (after the first flooding),"
Speaks said. Numerous government facilities, homes and businesses in the
Salina area were flooded.
Everyone in the Saline County towns of Bavaria and Hedville -- about 80
people -- evacuated their homes overnight. Fifty homes in Ogden, near
Fort Riley, were being voluntarily evacuated as area creeks rose.
In Hutchinson, many motorists had to be helped from their cars as water
flooded streets.
"In some places, there are people with water up to their porches,"
Hutchinson Fire Chief Kim Forbes said. Fire trucks were used to help
move people to higher ground or to shelters.
The storms also spawned tornadoes and funnel clouds, but no significant
tornado damage was reported. Toppled trees and power lines were reported
in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The National Weather Service posted a flood warning for the Big Nemaha
River in southeastern Nebraska. It was expected to crest 3 feet over
flood stage late Thursday evening or night, and rain was forecast
through mid-afternoon.