The National Weather Service is predicting Wildcat Creek will experience moderate flooding, cresting Tuesday morning.
As of 4 p.m. Monday, May 20, rainfall quantities between 1.5 to 4 inches are possible through Tuesday evening. A flash flood watch is in effect in Riley, Pottawatomie and Geary Counties through 7 p.m. Tuesday and a flood warning has been declared for Wildcat Creek as well as Fancy Creek near Randolph, Lyon Creek near Junction City and the Kansas River at Manhattan.
Manhattan Floodplain Manager Chad Bunger says current projections have Wildcat Creek topping out at 22.5 feet. Last week’s minimal flooding crested around 15 feet, 25 feet results in water flowing over Linear Trail and the Labor Day flood of Wildcat Creek reached a height of 28 feet. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them do this for Wildcat Creek where we get almost a day of advanced warning like this,” says Bunger. “Usually it occurs after we get a rain event in the watershed and some rainfall data is accumulated by the weather service and then they make a prediction.”
The early warning, Bunger says, demonstrates the importance of residents who live in the creek’s floodplain or who have been flooded during past events staying alert.
(Read more: 1350 KMAN)