Kansas town scrambles to stave off more floods

Frenzied efforts to bolster the city's incomplete dike system helped prevent flooding from becoming worse after some 2,000 people were evacuated as a precaution.

The Walnut River, swollen to 14 feet above its flood stage, broke through a levee Tuesday morning and inundated about 300 homes.City officials, fearing a second levee breach would allow the flood to spread, quickly evacuated as much as 40 percent of the town's res-idential areas.

"We have probably gone too far, in retrospect, but better to err on the side of safety," City Manager Curtis Freeland said.

It was not immediately known when residents might be allowed to return to their homes.

More than 8 inches of rain had fallen in parts of the area. Arkansas City is particularly vulnerable to flooding because the Walnut and Arkansas rivers join just south of town.

Both rivers were falling Wednesday morning, but the Walnut was still 8 feet above flood stage and the Arkansas was nearly 7 feet above flood stage.

In northern Oklahoma, about 165 people had been evacuated from their homes in Blackwell, one of the hardest hit communities in that state. The Chikaskia River at Blackwell had fallen rapidly to 17.9 feet today, well below the 29-foot flood stage, the National Weather Service said.

In Arkansas City, Quazetta Brown and her family were among the evacuees who crowded into three shelters.

"We just do the best we can," she said. "Be thankful for what we have - our lives."

The flood had receded enough by Tuesday evening so that two of the city's 10 wells were working again, replenishing the town's supply of drinking water, said Ron Parker, an environmental specialist.