Flash Flood — Sedgwick, Kansas

2008-09-12 · near Maize, Sedgwick, Kansas

Event narrative

Nine to twelve inches of rainfall during the morning commute hours causing widespread street flooding of roadways up to 2 to 3 feet deep on the West side of the City of Wichita. Law enforcement officials reported 150 people were rescued from vehicles or evacuated because of the high water. 114 homes reported some type of surface flooding due to the heavy rainfall and sewers and sump pumps backed up into 141 more homes. This unprecedented amount of rainfall mainly fell during a five hour period, reminding some of the Halloween Flood of 1998. The large amount of rainfall caused the Cowskin/Calfskin Creek to once again come out of its banks, flooding homes in the Dells and Hidden Lakes Subdivision. 35 people were evacuated from the Park West Retirement home along the banks of the creek. Calls about stalled vehicles overwhelmed towing businesses across the city.

Wider weather episode

Moisture plume from the Southwest United States spread northeast towards the plains and interacted with a stationary boundary to produce a deluge of rainfall across Central and South Central Kansas. Rainfall amounts were generally around 5 inches, however isolated amounts reached up to 11.00 inches on the West side of Wichita, Kansas. Wichita Mid Continent Airport reported the greatest 24 rainfall total (10.31 inches) in its history.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.7254, -97.4278)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 135397. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.