By Caroline Zimmerman
The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dozens of people were rescued from floodwaters Thursday after severe weather and thunderstorms doused the Kansas City metro Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Kansas City doubled its own record for daily rainfall Wednesday with 2.78 inches, surpassing the previous record of 1.35 inches set in 1968, according to the National Weather Service.
Around 6 a.m. Thursday, Kansas City had received an additional 2.04 inches of rain, tying the city’s record for consecutive days of 2 inches of rain or more, according to the National Weather Service, which has only happened 12 times in 137 years.
Kansas City
Kansas City firefighters rescued 23 people from vehicles stranded in high water Wednesday night and Thursday morning, battalion chief Michael Hopkins said.
No injuries were reported among those rescued, Hopkins said. In Kansas City , the threat for roadway flooding has subsided, Hopkins said.
Overland Park
The Overland Park Fire Department was dispatched to six water rescue calls during Thursday morning’s storms, media manager Jason Rhodes said.
“My understanding is that most of them were fairly minor,” Rhodes said.
The city’s emergency manager continues to monitor water levels Thursday, Rhodes said. Water levels have dropped back below a critical level.
Johnson County Consolidated Fire District 2
Firefighters in Johnson County reported no water rescues overnight, administrative assistant Joanna Russell said. However, firefighters had a “number of weather-related calls” during the storm.
Kansas City, Kansas
Firefighters in Kansas City, Kansas, rescued 40 people from high water and “related incidents” during the storm, assistant chief of training and public information officer Scott Schaunaman said.
The department received 89 calls for service across the span of seven hours, Schaunaman said.
Schaunaman warned people to remain safe around floodwaters.
“Just six inches of moving water can knock a person down, and 12 inches can sweep away a vehicle,” Schaunaman said.
He said residents should not attempt to walk, swim or drive through flash floods and to avoid creeks, rivers and low-lying areas.
Flood warnings continue for the areas of Stranger Creek near Tonganoxie and at Easton , affecting Leavenworth and Atchison counties, according to the National Weather Service .
Around 2,000 customers in the Kansas City metro remain without power in Kansas City Thursday evening, according to the Evergy outage map. Nearly 1,700 remain without power in Kansas City, Kansas, according to the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities.
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