Members Ani Posted May 8, 2007 Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 Folks haven't forgot the floods of 1951 and 1993. Today I was out and about with my camera and thought I'd drive down to the river to take a few pictures of the city; something I do frequently. Today, I noticed how wide the river had swollen while crossing the bridge leading from the Northland into the city. The nearer I grew to the river park, the more traffic I began seeing. For the very first time, I found myself in a string of traffic leading into the obscure city park that not that many people know about; or so I thought. The boat ramp was closed and so was the river access road; the entire lower level of the river access points were under water already. With three more days of rain in the forecast for this week, Kansas Citians are very much concerned about another huge flood. I decided to drive out 210 HWY, where they are building the new Musician's Friend plant, and a LOT of that ground is already under water. Mostly a lot of farming plantations are under water, but the commercial building zones are still elevated enough not to be submerged yet. If the flood tops the levees though; I'm not too sure that Musician's Friend will be safe. The plantations are fully covered with water and the area looks like a lake resort rather than crop fields. I'll post pics soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus Lozada Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 ... it seems the right time to buy emergency groceries, gasoline and batteries for a couple of weeks. Eerie, indeed. Take care, Ani. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 The road coming in from the left of the photo leads down to the boat ramp which is completely under water now, as well as the wooden dock that one can walk out over the water on. A different angle of the above to show how the trees are buried in the water..... The water you see here is backflow from the river. These are low lands that are used as plantations that are some of the first areas to flood whenever the river decides to get wicked and betray her boundaries. The lights in the background of the photo just happen to be the brand new building that Musician's Friend is having built to expand their business here in K.C..... All is well during dry times, but if we have another flood like '51 or '93, there might be a set back in their plans to move in later this year. I don't know how well they have elevated the building, but if the highway goes underwater, highway travel to and from the facility might be a bit sparse. This is a spillway that leads from the river and pours out into the fields that are now mostly covered with water. This spillway is on the opposite side of the highway from the photo posted above with MF in the background. Notice the force at which the water is coming out.... the banks of the river can't handle any more water and all the overflows will flood the lowland in no time flat. Might be an ugly year in K.C...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 I wonder what our fellow forecaster and Kansas Citian has to say about this mess.... Any insight Tedster???? I haven't really been watching the news, but hearsay says another 5 feet and she blows.... I looked at the NOAA web site and, to the best of my ability in reading the stats, it appeared that the elevation was sitting at 32' with predictions of it hitting 33' by morning.... From what I understand 35' is the breaking point, and the forecast is suggesting 38' by Wednesday morning.... THIS IS GETTING REAL UGLY!!!! Can you confirm or nullify the concern of experiencing another "GREAT Flood" Ted??? I can look at the river and see there is definitely a need for concern, but are we talking the same magnitude as what we had years back? I'm sure that you are swamped with work right now (pardon the pun) with all the weather that's hitting us right now. I was out at a good friend's home tonight and she said that quite a bit of Excelsior Springs was under water already.... I don't know the elevation levels of Lawson, but stay safe just in the event you have to travel through any lowlands to get to and fro. If the waters give way, I'll have to change my route to work for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 ... it seems the right time to buy emergency groceries, gasoline and batteries for a couple of weeks.Eerie, indeed. Take care, Ani. Thanks Gus... I'm glad I'm off work tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted May 8, 2007 Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 Ani, I lived there in 93", and remember that the park I biked with my son ( by Park College) was pretty much gone. I was taking flying lessons at the time, and we were flying over the area slightly NW of City airport, and it was amazing. All the fields were just underwater. I home it does not recur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 8, 2007 Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 BLUBBLUB BUBBLEBLUB BLUB BUBBLE GURGLE BLUB... (translation: I'm speaking to you all from my living room. I'm okay here, can't vouch for everyone else in Kansas City) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 8, 2007 Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 All kidding aside...you can access Pleasant Hill's River Forecast Center homepage at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mbrfc/ This is an important page to keep bookmarked for anyone in the Pleasant Hill RFC's area of responsibility, which extends from northwestern Missouri northwest to much of central and eastern Montana. And a plug for anyone who wishes to study hydrology as a career. A plus, it usually doesn't require much in the way of shiftwork (except during emergency conditions). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thankyou Posted May 8, 2007 Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 Well, we are upstream to you folks and we had 500 "rescues" yesterday along a couple of creeks. Our water becomes yours today or tomorrow. I'm hoping our dear Rev. Phelps sees fit to analyze this as God's stamp of hatred on the Westboro "church", which looks more like a condo-turned-tax dodge. Maybe he'll move back to Mississippi with all these omens in KS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 8, 2007 Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 Oh geez, Henry, I was having a good day 'til you brought that nimrod's name up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 Thanks for the link Tedster, and glad to hear that all is well out your way. Yeah Henry, I was wondering what the KAW river had in store for us that live downstream. I remember how bad the river looked out around 5 HWY and I-635 HWY during the 93 flood. I'm so tempted to take the camera out again today, but I really don't have time if I want to get anything done around the house. I know of some wet weather waterfalls that would be awesome to capture on digital. Of course....... if there are any dangers of flash flooding, which might be very well possible..... well then, it might not be so smart to try and defy nature. I have tested the limits of nature on occasion, but maybe not this time because of chores that await me. Truly, I'd rather be out living adventurously.... but.... damn them chores. Somebody's got to do them. Today it seems we have a break from the rain, but being downstream of heavy waters will not allow time for the banks to recede prior to getting hit tomorrow with more rain. Dean... I remember Parkville in 93 and I've heard many, MANY great stories and seen many pictures of Parkville in 1951. The whole city of Parkville, I believe, was submerged in 1951. When they rebuilt the dikes and the dams to secure that area a bit more, then Brush Creek became the weak structure. Now that they have rebuilt those barriers; no telling where the weak points will be. I saw some pretty wicked photos of St. Louis during the 1993 flood. As I was taking the pictures above, I watched the currents in the water. I was really wild. While most of the body of water was travelling downstream, there was a reverse current along the bank about 20 to 40 feet wide that was travelling UPstream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2007 OOOOOKay then, Tedster, from the link you provided; it looks like K.C. is a sitting duck right now with flood warnings extended until Sunday or "until further notice". This site says that flood stage is 32' rather than 35' on the other site I read and it says that the river elevation is already at 34.8' with an expected 37.3' by Wednesday evening. I'm in Gladstone with an elevation of 899' so I am not in any danger of flooding at my home, but I DO have to cross the river to get to my job. IIRC, the 1993 flood closed the Broadway bridge with waters reaching up to bottom rungs of the bridge and completely putting 169 HWY under water in some low spots near to Municipal. Eliminating one of the main bridges that lead into the city will cause a great havoc in rush hour traffic with all the population of people that live north and work south. During the 93 flood, I worked at the Air Mail Field facility that was located out at the airport; I didn't have to cross the bridges.... I'm hoping for the best, but trying to prepare for the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thankyou Posted May 9, 2007 Members Share Posted May 9, 2007 Oh geez, Henry, I was having a good day 'til you brought that nimrod's name up. Sorry, bro, I've had to see those whackos on a regular basis for years. I still think about driving through that "Freight train" storm a couple of years ago. Bet you guys have been busy. A musician friend of mine lost his house two years ago in some flash flooding north of Topeka. It wasn't washed away, they just wouldn't let him and his neighbors move back into such an active flood plain. Bet he's glad he's outta there now. Edit: I landed a bass last week. A Fender Mustang, not quite a full-sized fish, but I refuse to throw it back. It's the first bass I've owned. I always have traded off with the bass player when he plays guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 9, 2007 Members Share Posted May 9, 2007 Henry...One of the first smallmouth basses I ever played was a Fender Musicmaster (which is basically a Mustang bass). Ani...hope that site is helpful. It should provide a handy-dandy reference guide. There are a lot of factors that go into how much flooding an area will get...antecedent soil moisture, vegetation, soil type, runoff slope...even the direction a storm is moving relative to the orientation of the basin. Forecasting rainfall is the meteorologist's job. Pretty much once the rain hits the ground, it becomes the hydrologist's job. Just to clarify...our office does little in that regard. We're only interested (from a professional standpoint) in how the weather is affecting planes in the air...and being a national center, even though we're here in Kansas City, we're every bit as concerned about low clouds or turbulence in Boston or Seattle as we are about low clouds here. Our local weather forecast office (Pleasant Hill) handles the local heavy rainfall forecasting job, as well as all the severe weather forecasts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 9, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 9, 2007 Thanks for all the info Tedster... so.... is it safe to say you walk around most of the day with your head up in the clouds???? :D Let me guess, PORN CLOUDS, no doubt! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 9, 2007 Members Share Posted May 9, 2007 "Porn Clouds" would be a good name for a rock band. And you're too kind. Most people would say I walk around with my head somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ani Posted May 10, 2007 Author Members Share Posted May 10, 2007 And you're too kind. Most people would say I walk around with my head somewhere else. Only and complete jerk would say something negative about the TEDSTER!!! The Tedster RuLeZ:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 10, 2007 Members Share Posted May 10, 2007 Why thanks, Ani...but I'm sure there are at least a few complete jerks around. (sigh) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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