If You Don’t Like the Weather, Wait a Minute
In the 1978 children’s book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, residents of a faraway land check the weather forecast for the menu of the day. Their weather consists of food falling out of the sky right on schedule for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Johnson Countians may not need to worry abut being deluged with spaghetti sauce, or choosing the right dining utensils before venturing forth in the morning, but they still keep an eye out for the unpredictable and often harsh weather that is so typical of Kansas.
First Impressions
During the early 19th century, white traders and missionaries venturing into the land that would be Kansas certainly encountered extreme weather. Winters tended to be long, cold and snowy. In 1819-1820, the Missouri River froze over before Christmas and the ice did not begin to break up until near the end of March. On March 1, the snow stood two feet deep in the bottomland near the mouth of the Kansas River (also called the Kaw). Snowmelt and heavy spring rains led to flooding in 1826. The rising Missouri washed away Randolph Chouteau’s fur trading post near the Kaw-Missouri junction, and he soon moved his family upriver to the “Four Houses” trading post on Cedar Creek, east of present-day De Soto.
The Kaw was not immune from floods, of course, and the biggest one of all came in 1844, when an early spring ushered in heavy rains that fell almost constantly from late March to June 1. Rivers in northeast Kansas rose quickly and flooded the bottomlands from bluff to bluff. Buildings and fences were swept away and the few roads became seas of mud.
Early white residents in the area soon learned of the fury of Kansas winds as well. On October 24, 1844, a violent windstorm swept through, demolishing buildings at the Shawnee Methodist Mission (located in what is now Fairway). As the storm moved east through present-day Mission Hills, it reduced the Fort Leavenworth Indian Agency to smithereens, then blew through Westport and Independence, killing eleven people and injuring many others.
Damaging weather also greeted immigrants who poured into the newly-created Kansas Territory in the late 1850s. For a sixteen-month period in 1859-60, hardly a drop of moisture fell. The long drought led to famine and disease, and thousands fled the territory for greener pastures to the east.
A Change in the Weather?
Despite early discouragements, some settlers dreamed of a brighter future. The author of a Johnson County history in the 1874 Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas insisted that white settlement had led to more moderate weather patterns. The hard winters and hot dry summers became less extreme, the writer asserted, and the drought of 1860 was simply the last gasp of an uncivilized climate. Given the long cycles of weather trends in the region, we really cannot blame the man for engaging in a bit of wishful thinking. With their short-term experience, early Kansans may have thought that the weather had moderated for good. The passage of years, however, has demonstrated that extremes of temperature and precipitation keep returning even after moderate periods, and that the sometimes-alarming Kansas zephyrs are unlikely to lose their power anytime soon.
Periods of extreme weather serve as “markers” in the lives of many Kansans. Still within living memory are the severe seasons of the 1930s. Although not as hard-hit as some parts of the country, Johnson County suffered through the deadly-hot summers of 1935 and 1936 and the record cold of the winter in between. During that winter, blizzards and extreme cold led to acute shortages of heating coal in many Kansas communities. Coal dealers in Overland Park ran out of merchandise and lack of fuel forced the closing of a grade school in Shawnee.
Some readers may remember the oppressive heat of July 1980, when Johnson County saw 17 days in a row with temperatures over 100 degrees. (Still, it wasn’t as bad as in Wichita, where the average high temperature in early July was 106.5 degrees, and one resident reported popcorn popping in her kitchen cupboard.) At the other extreme, almost everyone in the county was affected by the ice storm of January 2002, which left more than 100,000 residents without power, in some cases for days.
Ill Wind
National Weather Service records show that during the years 1880 to 1991, 781 tornadoes touched down in Johnson County during the prime storm months of April, May and June. Generally, however, killer tornadoes have bypassed the county, as happened with the recent storms that veered northeast and battered Wyandotte County and north Kansas City.
Perhaps the most deadly tornado ever to hit this area occurred on July 16, 1927. Late in the afternoon, northern Johnson County was battered by heavy rain and high winds. Just as the storm seemed to be subsiding, a funnel cloud descended, ripping up roofs and trees in Monrovia (in the vicinity of Quivira & Johnson Drive), then lifting over Shawnee and Merriam on a northeasterly path. The tornado hit South Park shortly before 5 p.m. and in five minutes cut a swath 600 feet wide and at least one-half mile long. The winds destroyed 25 houses and five business buildings. Four people were killed and 23 injured, mostly by flying or falling debris.
By eight o’clock that evening, hundreds of cars full of sightseers were converging on the area. Survivors had slowly emerged from the rubble to survey the ruin of their town. The Olathe Mirror reported “livestock and chickens wandered about the debris strewn streets and among the crowds. They had been liberated by the storm from their enclosures. Several persons in South Park were breeders of rabbits and these animals hopping about in the wreckage added to the eerie effect of the destroyed town.” Members of American Legion posts in Olathe and Shawnee aided the town marshal in patrolling the scene, and they were later joined by National Guard troops ordered out by Governor Paulen. Relief efforts began almost immediately, coordinated by the Red Cross with help from various local service groups.
There is no evidence that modern communications provided severe weather warnings in the 1920s, but newspapers reported that the telephone played a key role in disaster response after the South Park tornado. The storm toppled 85 utility poles and left behind miles of snarled wire intertwined with debris. Not only did this disrupt communication, it also blocked the roads. The Mirror reported that Southwestern Bell employees played a key role both in clearing the main roads and restoring phone service. “Realizing that telephone communication was of utmost importance in relief work,” the paper noted, “special circuits were strung in record time to both the national guard (sic) and the citizens relief association headquarters before midnight Saturday.” All telephone service was back to normal within 24 hours.
The storms earlier this spring reminded some long-time residents of May 1957, when a twister blew through Johnson County, causing relatively little damage before devastating the Ruskin Heights area of southern Kansas City, Missouri, and killing 33 people. In April 1966, a tornado dipped into the new neighborhood next to Katherine Carpenter Elementary School on 96th Street in Overland Park. One resident recalled years later that, although his family home was not damaged, many houses behind it were completely destroyed. As he remembered, “We could see the school from our house now, where before we couldn’t.” Although the damage was severe, no deaths resulted.
Water, Water, Everywhere
Over the years, the heavy spring and summer rainstorms typical of this area have contributed to damaging floods along the county’s many creeks and streams, as well as along the Kansas River on the northern border. The huge flood of 1844 held the record for decades, but the damage it caused had been relatively minor because of the sparse population at the time.
The Kaw again showed its power in 1903, when summer floodwaters spread from Topeka to Kansas City. Seventy-eight families were left homeless in the northern part of Johnson County, and the flood washed out the bridge at De Soto. Kansas City listed 100 dead, 20,000 homeless and $10 million in property losses. By an odd twist of fate, this flood apparently contributed greatly to the development of Johnson County. William Strang was visiting his mother in Kansas City when the floodwaters hit, and after witnessing the death and destruction, was determined to develop flood-free communities. Later, while looking for sites for his real estate ventures in Johnson County, Strang located his Overland Park development on the high ground around 79th and Metcalf.
In May and June 1935, flooding caused by torrential rainfall occurred all over the county, not just along the Kaw. The trouble began on May 12, when as much as seven inches of rain fell within three hours in and around Olathe. Roads south of that city were flooded, and over 200 motorists were stranded at Gardner, where restaurants soon ran out of food. A week later, nearly four inches of rain fell in one day throughout the county. Bull Creek overflowed and was running a mile wide at Edgerton. Kenneth, a town near the state line, became an island amidst overflow from the Little Blue River and the Kaw flooded acres of potato fields near De Soto. On May 30, another three inches of rain fell in one afternoon, so floodwaters had little chance to subside. Turkey creek, always a source of trouble, overflowed and flooded parts of Merriam with as much as ten feet of water, washing out the Frisco railroad tracks both east and west of town. The State Board of Health, fearing the spread of disease, issued boil orders for water from wells and cisterns. In the county as a whole, rising water damaged 80 bridges, and the flood was generally regarded as the worst since 1903.
The great deluge of 1951 unfortunately surpassed the damaging floods of 1903 and 1935. During the spring and early summer, very heavy rains fell all over Kansas. By July 9, it appeared that the Kaw and other major rivers had crested without over-flowing. Then, over the course of the next four days, eastern Kansas was inundated with 20 inches of rain. The flooding reached full fury on July 13, “Black Friday.” Nine rivers rose over their banks. Along the Kansas River, forty-four people were killed, more than half a million were driven from their homes, and two million acres of land were under-water.
Although other areas of Johnson County were affected, De Soto and the nearby river towns of Wilder and Holliday saw the most flood damage. The bridge at De Soto was closed to traffic in mid-June due to the threat of high water, and the town was without electricity or treated water for four days after the river crested in July. Both the Santa Fe and Rock Island railways detoured their trains from the usual river valley route, using the Frisco tracks to travel through Olathe instead.
Since 1951, huge flood control projects have largely tamed the Kaw, but smaller waterways in Johnson County have continued to be a problem, especially after extremely heavy rains. Changes in runoff patterns due to increased paving and development have also contributed to flooding problems. In September 1977, for example, northeast Johnson County was declared a disaster area after a down-pour pushed Turkey Creek and Brush Creek over their banks. The greatest damage occurred to the Mission Shopping Center at Johnson Drive and Roe. In 1984, a summer storm led to flooding from Indian Creek, causing millions of dollars in damage in southern Overland Park and Leawood. Occasional localized flooding continues to cause problems in areas unable to handle sudden large quantities of runoff during heavy rainstorms.
Heedless of the Wind and Weather…
The extreme weather typical of this region continues to affect life in Johnson County, but residents are better prepared than in earlier times, due to improvements in communications and disaster preparedness. City and county governments have developed cooperative programs to help handle weather-related threats and damage. In 1991, the Johnson County government established the Stormwater Management Fund. The fund was based on a penny sales tax on every $10 spent.
Johnson County Public Works began construction of flood control projects in 1993, with the initial ten-year plan including 49 projects costing $54 million. The Stormwater Fund is set up to pay for 75% of project costs, with individual cities picking up the rest. City governments and the county’s Emergency Management Department also cooperate in creating “disaster-resistant communities” and providing storm warning services and education about disaster preparedness. Although we still cannot control the weather, thanks to technology and planning we are better able to respond to its effects.
--ALBUM vol.16, no. 3 (summer 2003)