The One Giant Flood In Kansas We Could Never Forget
By Clarisa|Published March 29, 2019
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Clarisa
Author
Born and raised Kansan, Clarisa has lived in both tiny towns and cities during their time here in the Sunflower State. As a busy mother of one crazy kid, two cats, and two geckos, they write whenever there is spare time.
Kansas has had its share of crazy weather events, from ice storms to tornadoes and everything in between. Do you remember the 1951 flood in Kansas? It’s been almost 70 years since this eventful time in Kansas history, but we’ll remember it forever. Let’s take a look back on how it affected our state.
In late June and into July, northeast Kansas was hit with more water than it could handle and local rivers started flooding.
Water kept rising as rainfall kept falling, and the rivers were simply overwhelmed. July 13th was known as the day of the most flood destruction in the Midwest to that date. Bridges were broken in pieces, and trains fell into the waters after tumbling off the tracks.
Flood water is not regular river water, it's often polluted with oil, sewage, and other things that join the mix after the waters reach a certain level. In many cities along our major rivers, water levels were anywhere from 11 to 15 feet above flooding levels. The Kansas River levels were above the gauges, so we don't officially know how high the river got that July 13th.
Imagine seeing your whole city drowning, where there were homes and businesses almost completely underwater. 1,074,000 acres in Kansas were reported as flooded, all along our main rivers.
Afterwards, there were cars buried in dried-out mud, and ruined goods had to be thrown out by the tons. Though it's been almost 70 years, the impact this flood had on northeast Kansas will stick with us forever.
