The rain just keeps on falling, but county officials aren’t yet too concerned about flooding.
According to the Iola Water Plant, more than 3.26 inches of rain fell Wednesday night, which brings the total for the month so far to 5.64.
The year-to-date rain total is 21.83, which is an excess of 9.63 inches from what would be considered normal at this point in the year.
And there’s no sign of stopping, as the National Weather Service predicts rain and thunderstorms in some combination every day for the next week.
According to Jason Trego of Allen County Emergency Management, the area is currently in the “action stage” of flooding. The river currently is at about 14.5 feet; the flood stage is 15 feet.
That means, for example, that the Neosho River west of Iola is higher than normal, though not so high that Dry Lake Corner at 1000 St. and U.S.-54 has water spilling onto the road.
Trego said the river “could just brush 15 feet” today, before cresting and falling back below flood stage this afternoon.
Although the flood warning for the area has been rescinded, several low water bridges have been reported as impassable as of Thursday morning.
According to the National Weather Service, a flood watch remains in place until 11 p.m. Thursday night.
Emergency personnel continue monitoring the situation, and will share up-to-the-minute updates on the Allen County Emergency Management Facebook page.
Last year at this time also saw significant rain. About 5.6 inches fell in May, pushing the total to 12.65 for the year, which was in excess of 5.09 of normal rainfall.
