NORTON COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Norton County have recovered the body of a man who drowned in weekend flooding.

Just before 11:30 on Saturday, the Norton County Sheriff’s Office learned that a man was trapped in his vehicle after it slid off Road BB in Lenora due to flooding, according to a media release. A tree limb had gone through the windshield allowing water to rush in.

Solomon Valley Rural Fire responded and were able to get as close as one-quarter mile before the rushing water impeded their efforts. As the water began to recede, responders moved in closer but were overcome by moving water.

Early Sunday morning the water had receded to the point that responders could make out the roof of the white vehicle, but the water was still too high and moving too fast to attempt any safe approach. Sunday afternoon Kansas Highway Patrol flew over the North Fork of the Solomon River without yielding any search results. A drone was brought over from Hays but the video from that flight only showed items in the back of the vehicle and it was not possible to see inside the side windows. At 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, responders waded into the water toward the car and could then see that nobody was not inside the vehicle. Responders searched roughly a square mile area on ATVs and on foot until it was too dark to continue.

Just after 7:00 a.m. on Monday, volunteer responders from the Graham County Sheriff’s Office, Solomon Valley Rural Fire, Norton Fire, Almena Area Fire, and the Norton County Sheriff’s Office began a search starting from the vehicle and following the path of the river. At 7:45 a.m., searchers found the body of Bobby Morris about one-quarter mile southeast of the vehicle.

Sunday’s search came a day after two occupants of a car that was swept off a Norton County highway near Edmond were rescued from a tree. Parts of north central Kansas received 5 to 7 inches of rain on Saturday night.

(Hays Post)