Levee keeps water out of Halstead, but flood blocks four major roads into Kansas town

Officials at a Kansas town are working to keep flood waters out as many of the major roads into and out of the town are closed.

Flooding along the Little Arkansas River in Harvey County has led to closures of four of the six main roads into Halstead, and city crews and volunteers have closed one of three gates along a flood control levee.

“Today, our main concern is (the flooding) just blocks off mainly everything,” said Halstead Fire Chief Jim VanSchaick. “There’s only one really exit to the west of town and one to the south of town. The rest to the east and north we can’t get out of.”

Halstead city administrator Ethan Reimer said the flooding is mostly along the river to the north and east of town.

“In the city we are high and dry,” he said.

The river was over 2 feet above the flood stage at the government monitoring site about two miles northwest of town along U.S. 50. The record for the Little Arkansas River is 27.22 feet at that spot, which was reached May 25, 2007, according to the United States Geological Survey. The flood stage at that location is 25 feet.

The National Weather Service reported the river was at 27.12 feet at around 4:15 p.m. Thursday — the highest measurement taken so far that day. But measurements taken an hour later showed the river had gone down three-hundredths of an inch, and forecasts showed the river had likely crested, even though it is expected to remain above flood stage for at least another day.

“The levee system is working as designed and is keeping the city safe and dry and the water on the correct side,” Reimer said.

The levee was built in 1994 after a flood the previous year. Dave Friesen, a lifelong Halstead resident, said he doesn’t think the water will be as high as the flood of ‘93.

VanSchaick said the levee has helped prevent flooding in the city.

Before it was built, “Halstead had quite a few flooding issues because we had really nothing to stop it from coming into town,” he said. “Now, the way it is, we have the two main roads coming into town get covered with water, just like they used to, but it starts to push out to the north ... because the levee is in place to keep the water from coming into town. ... The levee does a lot to keep people at ease.”

Reimer said city crews and volunteers worked together to close the flood gate at Halstead Road, lining the bottom with about 500 sandbags. Flood gates at K-89, or Main Street, and the railroad on the east side of town had not been closed as of Thursday afternoon.

“You see residents that go to the flood gates or we have a walking trail on top of the levee,” Reimer said. “It’s not uncommon to see residents looking at the water levels. They are great, and they have a good strong contingent of people to come help and fill sandbags.”

The gate at Halstead Road was last closed in 2013, Reimer said, and was the only gate to close during a flood that year. On Thursday, water had reached the decking of the bridge over the river, but had not made it up to the gate into town.

“With the dike now, everyone feels pretty secure with the gates closed,” said Douglas Huebert, a Halstead resident. “The only thing is my wife works in Moundridge. Right now she’s trying to figure out a way to get home. That’s the main issue, people getting in and out.”

Commuters have still been able to make it into and out of town, but routes to Newton and Hutchinson may be longer than usual, Reimer said.

The only main routes into Halstead that were open Thursday afternoon were county roads Southwest 36th Street heading west toward Burrton and Halstead Road heading south toward K-96. Though not flooded, the route toward Burrton included a spot of high water near Kisiwa Creek, according to a map of road closures in the county.

School officials with Halstead-Bentley USD 440 canceled classes on Thursday because of the flooding.

Gov. Laura Kelly issued a state of disaster emergency declaration for several counties, including Harvey.

“I want to urge people to avoid playing in or around a flooded stream,” Kelly said in a statement. “There may be dangerous floating debris, hidden underwater obstacles, and treacherous currents. Please don’t try to launch a boat or swim in the water. Even fishing or walking along the bank can be dangerous because the bank may be slippery or easily collapse. Flood waters demand our utmost respect.”

The adjutant general’s office of the Kansas Army National Guard said the Kansas Division of Emergency Management activated the State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka to monitor flooding and provide assistance to local authorities.

“Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other thunderstorm-related hazard,” the office said in a news release. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that over half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into hazardous flood water.”

The National Weather Service branch in Wichita issued flood warnings for several locations, including multiple monitoring sites affecting Sedgwick County. They included Arkansas River sites at Derby, near Mulvane and near Haven, the Ninnescah River near Peck, the Cowskin Creek in west Wichita and the Little Arkansas River near Sedgwick.

Contributing: Chance Swaim of The Eagle.

This story was originally published May 9, 2019 at 7:26 PM.