Emporia ? Four children from Liberty, Mo., died after torrential rains swept their minivan off the Kansas Turnpike and carried it more than a mile. Authorities were still searching Sunday for the children’s mother, and a man from Texas.

The children’s father survived the tragedy, which struck about 8:30 p.m. Saturday when a wall of water estimated to be 6 to 7 feet high swept seven vehicles off the turnpike about 10 miles south of Emporia.

Three of the four children were strapped inside the minivan, which was found 1 1/2 miles from the scene. The fourth child was found Sunday morning about a quarter mile from the van, said Capt. Mark Conboy of the Kansas Highway Patrol. Police have not released the names of the victims.

The Rev. Steve Gordon of Kansas City saw three cars get swept away.

“It happened really fast, there was nothing that could be done,” Gordon said. “It was a sick feeling just watching them go under.”

He said the water came up very quickly.

“It looked like a river going across the road,” Gordon said. “The concrete barriers (between lanes) were being tossed around like feathers.”

The Wichita Eagle identified the man and woman whose minivan was swept away as Robert and Melissa Rogers of Liberty. The newspaper quoted a minister at the family’s church, Northland Abundant Life Worship Center in Kansas City, Mo., who described the children as well-mannered and kind.

“They were fun and outgoing and very smart little kids,” Cynthia Jerls, minister of music at the church and wife of pastor Kevin Jerls, told the Eagle.

An overturned minivan that carried a Liberty, Mo., family is seen south of Emporia, one day after it was carried by floodwaters more than a mile after being washed off the Kansas Turnpike. Four children from the Liberty family were killed; authorities were searching Sunday for two other people still missing from the flash flooding that swept seven vehicles off Interstate 35.

Two still missing

Melissa Rogers and a man from Fort Worth, Texas — identified by the Eagle as 31-year-old Al Larsen — were missing and presumed dead.

Larsen’s wife had not heard from him since Saturday evening, when he called her to say his Jeep had stalled and asked her to pick him up.

“We believe he got out first and was out trying to help people,” Conboy said. “That was just based on what he told his wife.”

Searchers are presuming the two missing people are dead, although they could be somewhere seriously injured, Conboy said.

“At this point it’s pretty unlikely,” Conboy said. “But you can’t give up hope.”

The search was discontinued at dark Sunday and was to resume today, Conboy said.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks on Sunday was using boats, four-wheel vehicles, a search dog and a helicopter in the low-lying, rocky area in the Flint Hills.

‘Wall of water’

Conboy said the first call came in at 8:36 p.m. Saturday.

“They just described it as a wall of water that came across the road,” said Conboy.

The National Weather Service said the Emporia area received 8 to 12 inches of rain in 24 hours beginning early Saturday. A small stream called Jacob’s Creek runs through rocky terrain and passes under the highway.

“It doesn’t take a lot of water very well because the water doesn’t soak in,” said Brad Ketcham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita. “I can’t substantiate it, but it doesn’t surprise me that there was six feet of water over the road, based on our precipitation estimates.”

The waters left washed out chunks of the interstate and swept some of the heavy concrete barriers — which weigh between 10,000 and 12,000 pounds — 50 to 60 yards away. The abandoned vehicles were strewn about the valley, which is about a half-mile wide in some areas and covered with grass and a few trees.

The interstate was open to one lane traffic each way Sunday as workers tried to restore the barriers. It was unclear how long the other lanes would be closed.

Freak occurrence

Conboy said Jacob’s Creek was not known for having flood problems.

“There are turnpike guys who’ve been here 30 years who’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

The storm that swept through the state Friday and Saturday dropped as much as 6 inches of rain on Topeka and Wichita. In Dodge City, in southwest Kansas, 4 to 7 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period and several motorists had to be rescued from vehicles stranded in high water.

“It’s very unusual for this time of year to have those kind of rainfall numbers,” Ketcham said. “Those are the kinds of things you expect in the spring months, but not during the summer like this.”