19-029 Update to flood response

May 22, 2019 | By slarson

Seven additional counties have been added to the state disaster declaration signed by Gov. Laura Kelly May 9 for flooding. The additions are Chautauqua, Clay, Comanche, Coffey, Franklin, Jefferson, and Montgomery. Counties included in the declaration are: Anderson, Barber, Barton, Butler, Chase, Cherokee, Clark, Cloud, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Doniphan, Elk, Geary, Greenwood, Harvey, Kingman, Lincoln, Lyon, Marion, McPherson, Meade, Morris, Neosho, Osage, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Riley, Saline, Sumner, Wabaunsee, Wilson and Woodson. "Again yesterday, many counties and cities across Kansas were impacted by tornadoes, severe weather and flooding, said Kelly. With more rain and severe weather on the way in the coming days, the situation is very serious. Kansans should be cautious, follow weather warnings, and avoid flood waters. Be safe this holiday weekend." The state declaration may be further amended to include any additional counties that experience flooding. The declaration authorizes the use of state resources and personnel to assist with response and recovery operations in affected counties that meet certain criteria. The Kansas National Guard has been requested to haul pallets of bottled water. Soldiers from Company G, 106th Brigade Support Battalion will pick up pallets at Fort Riley and additional pallets will be picked up by Soldiers from the 137th Transportation Company in Wichita. The Guard will haul the pallets using a palletized loading system to deliver the water to identified locations. Nine Airmen from the Kansas National Guards 184th Intelligence Wings Unclassified Processing Assessment and Dissemination are supporting the Kansas Division of Emergency Management with geospatial imagery support. The UPAD will provide unclassified satellite imagery of affected areas, which will be used for real-time condition, damage assessment, predictive analysis and situation awareness. I am proud of our Kansas National Guard troops as they take part in the flooding response, said Kelly. This is just the type of assistance mission our Soldiers and Airmen train for and they are ready and eager to help the citizens of Kansas. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is providing water pump support, a manual sandbag machine and approximately 27,500 sandbags and a Hesco barrier to support requests as received. For Kansas road information go online to www.KanDrive.org. The site displays information from KDOTs traveler information technology, including highway cameras, dynamic message signs, traffic management centers and 511 phone, online and mobile (http://511mm.ksdot.org). Tornadoes were reported last night in the counties of Atchison, Dickinson, Geary, Jackson, Nemaha, Riley and Shawnee with no significant damages reported. The American Red Cross has opened a shelter in Neosho and Saline Counties and shelters are on standby in the counties of Allen, Coffey, and Dickinson. The Kansas State Animal Response Team is supporting pet sheltering efforts as needed. State and Federal agencies that have reported to the SEOC are Kansas Division of Emergency Management, Kansas National Guard, Civil Air Patrol, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Kansas Highway Patrol, Department for Children and Families, Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Water Office, National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA. Other partners in the SEOC is the American Red Cross.