From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 14, 1973:

• River watchers were pictured on the front page today as they gathered on the south end of the Kansas River bridge to observe the Kaw cresting at 22.7 feet. The river level was now expected to drop at the rate of a couple of feet per day. An aerial view showed the river carrying giant logs “as though they were toothpicks, stacking them amid murky brown swirls of debris along the banks and against islands of high ground jutting above the flooded plain.” The river had spread visibly, inundating the area between the levee on the north side and the railroad tracks and beyond on the south. Damage to farmland along the Kaw appeared extensive from the air, but only a few homes had been flooded. The Lawrence landfill was completely covered.
• An unsigned editorial note in today’s Journal-World pondered the flood’s effect on the fate of the “island” which had been building up for about 20 years just east of the Bowersock Dam. “Will the island, considered a nuisance by some, be washed away, or will the torrents of water provide new deposits to make it even bigger? The island is considered a debris-catching eyesore by some, a hazard by others, since fishers and boaters sometimes are stranded on it. In political years, it becomes a dumping ground for campaign signs that are difficult to remove. Will it be gone, or bigger when the Kaw recedes?”