Storm inundates city, area

Severe thunderstorms stomped across Lawrence again Friday night, stranding dozens of motorists in flash street flooding and leaving hundreds without power.

About 3 inches of rain had fallen downtown by 10:30 p.m. as storms ripped northeast Kansas for the third time this week. As much of 4 inches of rain fell in parts of Douglas County by 11 p.m.

Good Samaritans push a stranded car out of the flooded intersection at 23rd Street and Ousdahl Drive. Lightning illuminated the sky so much that this photo taken Friday night looks as if it was taken at midday. Lawrence received nearly three inches of rain in a three-hour downpour Friday night.

Flooding was reported on many Lawrence streets and area roads, sending emergency crews scrambling to assist motorists stranded in high waters.

At Pat’s Blue Rib’n BBQ, 1618 W. 23rd St., customers safely above the floodwaters on the restaurant’s deck, but stranded by high water on 23rd Street, passed the time cheering on drivers splashing through the knee-deep water.

“It floods so bad over here at the corner,” said Franci Talamantez, a server at the barbecue restaurant, “cars get stuck and everybody just comes together and helps each other out of it.”

By 10:30 p.m., there had been at least 10 water rescues across Lawrence, said Jerry Karr, division chief with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical. The rescues were intended to ensure motorists safely reached high ground. No injuries had been reported.

Across Lawrence, people pushing cars and wading from stranded vehicles were a common sight.

As of 11 p.m., according to Westar Energy, about 240 customers were without power in Lawrence, many in the 1000 and 1100 blocks of Ohio and Tennessee streets.

There were two reports of homes being struck by lightning, Karr said, but no fires were reported.

The downpour started in Lawrence about 8 p.m. Shortly after 9 p.m., the National Weather Service reported radar estimates of rainfall rates from one to two inches per hour along a line southeast of Clinton Lake to the city of Lawrence.

At Seventh and Tennessee streets, the basketball court in Buford M. Watson Jr. Park was flooded to the street level, or from the playing surface to the basketball backboard.

As bad as the storm was in Lawrence, though, areas to the north and east were getting hit even harder. Some parts of Kansas City were socked with up to 8 inches of rain, and the downpour was continuing there early this morning.

Other areas seeing flooding Friday night and this morning included Bonner Springs, Edgerton, Olathe, Gardner and Kansas City, Kan.

A pizza delivery car is swamped in high water at 23rd Street and Ousdahl Road after heavy rain Friday night.

Friday’s deluge was the third this week. Monday, storms brought heavy rains, hail, high winds and tornadoes to the area. On Wednesday night, another round of storms pounded the area with heavy rains and hail.

Friday’s storms were preceded by hot, steamy weather. At 3 p.m. the temperature at Lawrence Municipal Airport was 91, with a heat index of 102. That high heat index continued through about 6:30 p.m.

The National Weather Service expected the rains to continue until early today, with the chance for rain diminishing to 20 percent by 10 a.m.

This morning’s low will be 64, with a high today of 77 degrees. The skies are expected to clear throughout the day before completely dissipating by tonight.

Sunday morning’s low will be 55, with the high reaching 80 under sunny skies.


6News anchor/reporter Holly Naylor, 6News reporter Brooke Wehner, online editor Dave Toplikar and J-W photographer Scott McClurg contributed to this report.