The Kansas City area was under flash flood warning Wednesday after a storm system dumped rain across the metro, flooding intersections, filling creeks and storm drains. Intersections on both sides of the state line also flooded as storm drains proved unable accommodate the deluge.
Pamela Murray from the National Weather Service says it wasn’t just the 3-5 inches of rain that fell, but how fast it fell.
“The ground's not able to soak in the water as fast as it’s coming down, so a lot of it runs off,” says Murray.
This May was one of the wettest on record for the area, and the storm fell on ground that was already heavily saturated.
The flash flood warning was expected to remain in effect until 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Murray says the most important piece of advice for flooded roadways is simple: stay off them.
“You many think you know the roadway and what is underneath, but fast moving water can rip up cement. You really don’t know what’s underneath the water," she says.
Murray says it takes only a few inches of flowing water to move a vehicle.
More rain is expected across the metro overnight.