Torrential rain triggers flooding in Wichita area; Mulvane opens emergency shelter

Torrential rain from a line of potent storms triggered widespread street flooding in the Wichita area Friday night.

Several people were rescued from vehicles stranded on flooded streets, a Sedgwick County emergency dispatch supervisor said, though no injuries were reported.

Boats were being used to pluck some Mulvane residents from their homes as flood waters rose 5 feet or more, according to emergency communications traffic.

National Weather Service radar indicated between 5 and 7 inches of rain fell in southern Sedgwick County and western Butler County stretching from I-35 northeast to Rose Hill and from Derby south to Mulvane.

“Basically the whole city of Derby” was dealing with street flooding at one point Friday night, the supervisor said.

The flooding was triggered by rainfall rates approaching 4 inches an hour, weather service meteorologist Eric Metzger said.

Rain estimated at 2 to 4 inches fell in a large band stretching from south of Clearwater northeast to about Andover, according to the weather service.

Authorities in Mulvane set up an emergency shelter at the Mulvane United Methodist Church for people stranded by the street flooding or forced out of their houses. Boats were being used to rescue people from homes, according to emergency scanner traffic in Mulvane, though flood waters had already begun to recede prior to 10 p.m.

Several vehicles in Mulvane floated away from where they were parked in front of homes, though no people were inside of them. One wall of a building collapsed shortly before 9 p.m. in Mulvane; police reported no injuries.

Wichita wasn’t spared: Rainfall rates exceeding an inch an hour doused the city and flooded many city streets. But a 911 supervisor said no injuries were reported.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Torrential rain triggers flooding in Wichita area; Mulvane opens emergency shelter."