From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 26, 1971:

A front-page photo showed the result of recent storms. Heavy rains had arrived in the area the night before, causing a large amount of mud and gravel to slide across Ninth Street from a construction area at Hillcrest Shopping Center. As of this morning, traffic was still being detoured around the one-third of the street that was still covered with mud. The torrential rainfall had unleashed 2.22 inches of rain on the city in just over an hour. On the Kansas Turnpike, traffic had been stalled for more than 20 minutes when a deluge of water had descended from the construction site of the Kresge distribution center, causing a flash flood 10 inches deep in spots and 200 feet wide. The North Second Street underpass in North Lawrence was closed because of high waters, as was U.S. 24-40 south of TeePee Junction.