TOPEKA —The State Emergency Operations Center continues to remain activated 24/7 to monitor flooding impacting the state.
According to a media release from the Adjutant General’s Department, Fifteen additional Kansas counties have been added to a federal emergency declaration for Kansas. The counties added to FEMA-3412-EM are Allen, Doniphan, Dickinson, Douglas, Geary, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Linn, Lyon, Marshall, Morris, Pottawatomie, Riley, Saline, and Wabaunsee.
The 18 counties originally named in the federal emergency declaration from President Donald Trump were Anderson, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Cowley, Crawford, Elk, Franklin, Greenwood, Harvey, Montgomery, Neosho, Osage, Reno, Sumner, Wilson, and Woodson. An emergency declaration supplements state and local government efforts for required emergency measures to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe through direct federal assistance for emergency protective measures.
Two additional counties (Gray and Norton) were added to the state disaster proclamation signed by Governor Laura Kelly May 9 which brings the total to 60. Counties currently named in the declaration are Allen, Anderson, Barber, Barton, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Edwards, Elk, Ellsworth, Franklin, Geary, Greenwood, Harper, Harvey, Hodgeman, Jefferson, Kingman, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Montgomery, Morris, Nemaha, Neosho, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Riley, Rush, Russell, Saline, Sumner, Wabaunsee, Washington, Wilson, and Woodson.
Tuttle Creek is releasing water at 30,000 cubic feet per second and has begun to stabilize. Kansas Gas Service, as a precautionary measure, discontinued service to the identified potentially impacted areas. This was done as a proactive measure, should flooding occur, because their technicians’ ability to safely access those areas in the event of a natural gas emergency would be at risk. The Kansas Gas Service has temporarily shut off meters in certain areas of Manhattan including: Dix Addition, S. Manhattan Ave., Berry Streets and Countryside Estates Mobile Home Park. Service technicians left door hangers to notify impacted customers and will return to restore service as soon as weather conditions have stabilized.
John Redmond Reservoir has stabilized but is still being monitored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Verdigris River has seen decreases with minor flooding levels in Independence and Coffeyville. The levees along the Verdigris River near Coffeyville continue to be monitored.
The American Red Cross is providing support to persons affected by flooding and tornados. One shelter, which is also a pet shelter, is currently open in Riley County at the Westview Community Church, 615 Gillespie Drive, Manhattan.
Ten shelters are on standby in Dickinson, Jefferson, Montgomery, Neosho, Reno, Saline and Wabaunsee Counties.
Two other pet shelters are on standby. The Kansas State Animal Response Team is supporting pet shelter needs, as requested.
Staff from the Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources and local emergency management officials have been monitoring the reclamation dam located in Nemaha County. The dam appears to have stabilized due to the decrease of water draining into the water shed.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment Bureau of Vital Statistics has temporarily suspended the provisions of the regulatory statutes and rules and regulations prescribing the requirement for fee assessment for people who need to obtain certified copies of birth and marriage certificates that were lost in the May 28 tornadoes which swept through Douglas, Leavenworth, Mitchell, Osborne and Washington counties.
The KDHE Office of Vital Statistics will begin providing assistance to disaster victims who need to replace birth and marriage certificates for their immediate family on June 3. This service will end August 2. This offer is not available to anyone who has not been verified as a victim in the damaged area in the above stated counties on May 28.
Kansans with additional questions are encouraged to visit the Vital Statistics website at www.kdheks.gov/ or call 785-296-1400 for more information.
The Kansas Army National Guard continues to provide support to KDEM. The Kansas National Guard’s Joint Operation Center is staffed 24/7 and coordinate requests for assistant from KDEM. Soldiers with the 635th Regional Support Group, Wichita; 69th Troop Command, Topeka; 130th Field Artillery Brigade, Manhattan, have been tasked with hauling pallets of water, providing High Water Evacuation Teams in support of water rescue efforts, and assisted Coffeyville with building up their levee.
Airmen from the 184th Intelligence Wing, Kansas Air National Guard’s, Unclassified Processing Assessment and Dissemination continue to support KDEM with geospatial imagery. The 184th IW mobilized their Mobile Emergency Operations Center to Coffeyville to assist with monitoring the levee when water levels rose along the Verdigris River.
Airmen from the 190th Air Refueling Wing, Kansas Air National Guard, are supporting the disaster response operations with logistics and power generation support.
The Kansas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol continues to conduct aerial photography of flooding and tornado damage as requested by KDEM.
Flooding continues to affect roadways across Kansas. For continuously-updated road condition information, go to www.KanDrive.org or dial 5-1-1. Flooding information is shown on the construction map so that all highway closures can be seen at once. Other construction information, camera views, weather websites and travel details are also available.
