sestree | Kansas Floods (Reply)

First of all - none of my family lives in Coffeyville (unless they moved) and they're all pretty much ok in Winfield, Arkansas City, and Wellington. Waterlogged but not flooded out.

From CNN

COFFEYVILLE, Kansas (AP) -- The flood is bad enough, engulfing homes to the rooftops and turning neighborhoods into floating junkyards of children's toys and family heirlooms.

But the floodwaters here also carry some of the 42,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled from the Coffeyville Resources refinery on Sunday, coating everything they touch with a slimy, smelly layer of goo.

"My question is how are they going to get all that oil out of the environment," said Mary Burge, a heart surgery patient who was forced to breathe from her portable oxygen tank. The petroleum odor Monday was so strong it could be detected from helicopters passing overhead.

The oil spill, caused by a malfunction while the refinery was shutting down in advance of the flooding, has concerned federal and state officials as they monitor the slick's progress down the Verdigris River toward drinking water sources and recreation areas in Oklahoma.

It also presents another hurdle to Coffeyville leaders as they map out long-term flood recovery efforts that now must deal with the toxic sludge.

----and it continues if you follow the link

This is very sad. Granted that area of the country isn't as well known as many others and it doesn't have the money as many places -- but Coffeyville is also home to the bank The Dalton Gang attempted to rob which lead to their final shootout. I wonder if the bank is under water? Doubtful as it is in a different area of town but still ....

In the path of this stuff are small farming communities - most of which don't show up on the map unless you know where to look. Heck I can't even remember all of them. All I can think is thank goodness its east of Chatauqua and Shidler and Kaw City and Fairfax and Pawhuska - names that will mean nothing to anyone not from that area.

With the icestorm 6 years ago, the storms, the drought, and now the floods I have to wonder what is happening to that area?