flooding

Call it Kansas City's cruel summer. In July 1993, the Kansas River spilled over near 59th Street and Kaw Drive in Wyandotte County, Turkey Creek flooded Southwest Boulevard, and the Missouri River came close to overtopping the levees protecting the downtown airport. Hundreds of families were displaced.

Ozark troubadour Willi Carlisle brings his small-town love and queer themes into the folk music tradition. Based in Arkansas, Carlisle has found an impressive audience in Kansas City and beyond. Plus: How a prehistoric fish in the Missouri river could signal trouble for the Big Muddy.

The pallid sturgeons outlasted dinosaurs, but human changes to the Missouri River nearly wiped out the prehistoric fish. Some experts think the fish’s struggle could signal larger problems on the Big Muddy, especially as climate change accelerates.

In April 2023 alone, floods hit numerous regions of the United States, including land-locked states like Kansas, Tennessee and Colorado. With warmer temperatures and human activity causing the oceans to rise and the ground to sink, flooding is now a question of “when,” not “if.” NOAA oceanographer WIlliam Sweet explains why those disasters are getting worse and how we can prepare for a “floodier future.”

In April 2023 alone, floods hit numerous regions of the United States, including land-locked states like Kansas, Tennessee and Colorado. With warmer temperatures and human activity causing the oceans to rise and the ground to sink, flooding is now a question of when, not if. But there are still things we can do to prepare for this "floodier future."

Traditional grass lawns are much less effective at absorbing and filtering stormwater than native plants and trees. The Contain the Rain program aims to increase the number of rain gardens across 16 Johnson County cities.

Kansas has been seeing fewer tornadoes in recent years, but is that a permanent change? One reporter explains the lull and why experts are more worried about other extreme weather threats in the region — like flooding.

People have lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for millennia, but levee systems built in response to past disasters aren't designed for the newest risk: increased rainfall caused by climate change.

Farmers are dealing with more and heavier rainfall events throughout the Upper Midwest. Some farmers install drainage tiles and trenches to handle the water, but that can lead to soil erosion and flooding downstream.

Repeated flooding in some communities pushed residents to move to higher ground. But getting the resources and buy-in isn't easy, even in towns where residents have been flooded again and again.

Climate change is forcing communities in the Mississippi River Basin to deal with constant flooding on farmland and the places they call home. Plus: Missouri’s state commission designated to advocate for Hispanic communities disappeared 14 years ago, but Latino residents say there's an even greater need for it now.

Much of the Mississippi River basin is getting wetter, according to a new analysis of federal data, while rainfall events are becoming more intense. At the same time, the western half of the U.S. is increasingly prone to drought.