But hard rain kept falling late Friday night, and soon the calls started coming in to Butler County, Kan., Emergency Management.
“They were saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got water over here and water over here,’ and I was, like, ‘We’ve never had water there before,’ ” said Jim Schmidt, Butler County Emergency Management director.
Rain gauges near Rose Hill indicated more than 9 inches of rain fell in the area over the span of a couple of hours, spawning flash flooding that swept vehicles off rural roads in the black of night.
Searchers on Saturday were still looking for a Wichita man whose truck was swept off the road next to Polecat Creek at Southwest 210th Street and Butler Road south of Rose Hill shortly before 10 p.m. Friday.
Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet identified the missing man as Richard Lowery, 62. Lowery’s son, who was with him in the truck, emerged from a soybean field several hours later and was taken to a Wichita hospital for treatment.
“We had water lapping at the doors of the fire station” in Rose Hill, Schmidt said. “That’s unheard of.”
Flash flooding also inundated Derby and Mulvane, where more than 6 inches of rain fell in little more than an hour. The rain fell so hard and so fast it overwhelmed drainage systems in the Wichita suburbs.
“Basically the whole city of Derby” was enduring street flooding Friday night, a Sedgwick County emergency dispatch supervisor said.
In Mulvane, the force of the water surging through the drainage pipes was so strong that manhole covers were blown into the street. Mulvane first responders gave rescue teams directions on which parts of the streets to use so they wouldn’t hit open manholes.
“No, no,” Mulvane Fire Lt. Kyle Gasaway said when asked whether he’d ever seen such flooding in Mulvane before.
“All hell broke loose here,” as one Mulvane Fire Department employee put it.
About 20 people were plucked from homes or stranded vehicles in Mulvane and taken to a Red Cross shelter set up in the Mulvane United Methodist Church, said Michelle Jantz, executive director of the Red Cross. Many others stayed with friends or relatives in parts of town spared from the high water.
On Saturday, the shelter was moved to Mulvane City Hall so the church could be used as part of Mulvane Old Settlers Day, which went ahead as planned Saturday despite the deluge the night before.
“Time to make the best of a horrible situation and show the indomitable spirit of Mulvane!” a Facebook post offering updates on Mulvane Old Settlers proclaimed.
The event’s parade was canceled and the rodeo was rescheduled for Oct. 7-8. Flooding hit downtown hard, shutting down the carnival and all but a couple of food vendors on hand, Mulvane City Administrator Kent Hixson said.
About 40 homes sustained significant damage, Hixson said, along with a handful of businesses. Several streets will require repair in the wake of the flooding damage.
City officials will meet on Monday to add up all the damage caused by the flooding, he said.
The city’s water and electrical utility systems were unaffected.
“It’s quite unprecedented in how far it got” from Styx Creek in the low-lying parts of town, Hixson said. “I was amazed.”
He spoke to a lifelong Mulvane resident in his 60s who told him: “It’s never been like this.”
Authorities in Butler County were using Saturday to assess flood damage as well. A number of township roads remained closed by water or debris, Schmidt said.
“We can’t even get to some of our township roads” yet, he said.
A historic bridge on Southwest 230th Street in the southwest corner of Butler County is “virtually destroyed,” Schmidt said.
“We’ve had people that have been here forever saying they’ve never seen the water this high,” he said.
Rainfall rates of 3 to 4 inches an hour were reported after a line of potent storms stalled over parts of Sedgwick and Butler counties, National Weather Service meteorologist Robb Lawson said.
“All it did was sit over there for two hours,” Lawson said.
With so much humidity, the storms were prolific rain producers.
“Storm sewers and storm drains – they just couldn’t keep up,” Lawson said. “It was true flash flooding. Water came up quickly.”
Wichita’s official rainfall total from the storm was 1.78 inches, according to the weather service. But nearly 2.5 inches fell 3 miles south of downtown, and more than 5 inches fell just south of Haysville.
Rainfall totals topping 6 inches were widespread between Derby and Mulvane.
The Red Cross service center in Mulvane will be closed on Sunday but will reopen at 9 a.m. on Monday, Jantz said.
Trained caseworkers will be available to help people create personal recovery plans, navigate paperwork and locate assistance such as housing information, groceries, clothing, medicine, household items, cleanup support and financial assistance.
Those unable to get to the service center during operating hours can call the Red Cross disaster help line at 844-334-7569, Jantz said.
Stan Finger: 316-268-6437, @StanFinger
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