The travel situation improved considerably in north Lyon County on Thursday, although it’s still hampered a lot elsewhere.
Burlingame Road reopened to traffic around 6 pm, thus reopening three of the major highways for north Lyon County. The road had been closed for over a day. Americus Road and Kansas Highway 99 north of Emporia also reopened Thursday.
There are still a lot of roads in Lyon County that are either still flooded or have emerged from floodwaters but are too badly damaged to use:
*Kansas Highway 99 from Soden’s Grove to Road 130
*Road 140 from H to K-5
*Road 145 from E to G
*Road 150 from C to E; from M to N; west of X
*Road 155 from K to K-5
*Road 160 from N to R
*Road 177 West Of Road P5
*Road 190 east of M
*Road 190 West of Road P5
*Road 215 east of J; west of J
*Road 225 from Americus Road to H-5
*Road 225 at F-5
*Road E between 140 and 160
*Road C from US Highway 50 to Road 180
*Road D North of Hwy 56
*Road D South of Road 360
*Road E from 140 to 160
*Road F at 160
*Road G from 140 to 145
*Road J North of Road 240
*Road J South of Road 260
*Road N north of 175
*Road N-5 north of 175
*Road P from 140 to 150
*Road P-2 north of 175
*Road R from 140 to 160
*Road W south of 155
Lyon County Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell says the damage assessment process will have to wait until the flooding subsides. Research will then start to see whether the county and state qualify for reimbursement aid through the federal government.
Fell’s comments preceded Governor Laura Kelly’s state of disaster declaration for 15 counties, including Chase, Greenwood and Osage in the KVOE listening area. They also preceded Chase County verbally approving a disaster declaration. Lyon County did not discuss a disaster declaration during its action meeting Thursday, and most neighboring counties have not said whether they plan to issue disaster declarations.
Area impacts
In Chase County, Kansas Highway 177 remains closed between the Strong City railroad tracks and Cottonwood Falls. Diamond Creek and Old Highway 50 near U are still closed.
Coffey County has 16th at Angus and Kafir still closed.
Greenwood County still has numerous roads closed at this time. In fact, the list from Tuesday still applies today.
Greenwood County Rural Water District No. 2 is now in a boil water advisory until further notice. This affects all district customers between 260th Street and 142nd Street about 10 miles west of Hamilton. Affected residents need to boil water for one minute prior to drinking or food preparation, dispose all ice cubes, do not use ice from an automatic icemaker and disinfect dishes by using one teaspoon of unscented bleach per gallon of water.
All Morris County highways are open today. Council Grove Reservoir has started releasing water down the Neosho River as the lake approaches record levels, and numerous trails and coves are currently closed. The lake is five feet above the record listed by the National Weather Service set in 1977, but it’s five feet below the record listed by the US Army Corps of Engineers dating back to June 1993.
Osage County has no road closures to report. However, Melvern Lake has a host of campsites closed at the Turkey Point, Coeur d’Alene and Arrow Rock locations due to flooding. Those areas will be closed until May 15.
Rivers
Minor to moderate flooding continues along the Cottonwood from Emporia to the west and on the Neosho east of Emporia.
The Cottonwood River at Emporia is at 25.91 feet, above flood stage of 20 and trending down from a crest of 26.17 feet Thursday evening. Moderate flooding is underway. The river may go back into its banks Monday, so a flood warning now continues until Monday night.
The Cottonwood at Plymouth is at 33.81 feet, above flood stage of 32 but below its crest of 34.42 feet Thursday. Moderate flooding is ongoing. The river could go below flood stage Saturday afternoon. The warning now gues until Saturday night
The Cottonwood at Cottonwood Falls is at 13.4 feet, above the 9-foot flood stage but below Thursday’s crest of 14.1 — the third-highest all-time for the gauge, following 16.1 in May 1993 and 17.2 in November 1998. The river could go below flood stage Saturday. The warning now continues until Sunday morning.
At Neosho Rapids, moderate flooding is ongoing. The river is at 26.95 feet, above flood stage of 22 but below a tentative crest of 27.11 feet Thursday. The river may still climb to 27.2 feet Friday and go below flood stage early Tuesday. The flood warning now continues until Tuesday evening.
Stay with KVOE and KVOE.com for updates. Make sure to follow us on Twitter@kvoeam1400 or Facebook@kvoenews for instant alerts.
Photos by Phil Taunton
{gallery}Floods Phil Taunton 051019{/gallery}
Photos by David Baker
{gallery}Floods David Baker 051019{/gallery}
