Pratt area flood was ‘probably a quarter or half a century event.’

Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism is back in business issuing licenses after a flood of historic levels shut down offices headquartered east of Pratt earlier this week. The waters that damaged KDWPT offices and deluged other regions of the city and county were at a 35-year high, according to Steve McClain, president of Sterling Drilling Inc. in Pratt.

McClain referred to information on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website which, he said, showed that this flood event crested higher (at 14.66′ at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, 2018) than any previous flood event since at least 1983.

“It is number one now for the last 35 years,” McClain said.

McClain uses a digital Davis weather station at his home which continually gathers data for a summary every 15 minutes of the day.

His weather station just outside the city limits on the south edge of Pratt showed more than 6 1/2 inches fell from 4:30 p.m. Sunday to 6:30 a.m. Monday.

(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)