Persistent rain continues to fall in and around Pratt causing flooding problems on the Ninnescah River and at several road locations in the county.
Tim Branscom, Pratt County Emergency Manager, said the Ninnescah River crested at 11.06 feet Wednesday and that is two feet above the nine feet minor flood level. The Ninnescah reached 14.66 feet during the Labor Day flood of 2018 when the river overtopped the Pratt County Veteran’s Memorial Lake, causing damage to the lake facilities and the inflow and outflow valves and other damage to the lake.
The lake was being drained to make repairs on the valves and the level had been reached where repairs could begin but the rains this week have put a stop to those repairs until the water level drops again, said Doug Freund, county road and bridge supervisor.
The Ninnescah has risen so much that water at the outlet tube was actually flowing back into the lake on the east end. On the west end of the lake, water was roaring through a culvert under SE 30th Avenue. Water on the opposite side of the road was nearly at pavement level. This is a part of the roadway drainage system so there’s nothing Freund can do about it.
(Read more: Pratt, KS – Pratt Tribune)