Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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A sword fish bike sits on a concrete railroad bridge support near the K-177 bridge over the Kansas River. The bicycle, which was one of several built by 1993 K-State graduate Steve Heter, served as a constant indicator of the rising water levels of the river. At the beginning of the summer, at least twenty feet of cement separa ted the bicycle from the water level. Another of Heter ' s bikes was washed away by the flood waters. (Photo by Cary Conover) FLOOD Dave Neff, Sedgwick, boats his son, Beu, and friends Megan Mitchen and Jennifer Clark back to town after doing chores for a vacationing rural family. Neff said that although he had to boat out to the farm, water in the barn was only ankle-deep, so the family ' s cattle stayed relatively dry. (Photo by David Mayes) A soybean plant remains flooded in a field near Casement and Barnes roads. many fields were too muddy to operate a in, harvest was delayed. to the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Report, by July4 only 40 of the wheat crop had been compared to 50 percent in 1992. (Photo by Cary Conover) (Continued from page 16) engineering. We ' ve worked on drains because they were flooding and then came straight out here. Irwin ' s job with the city ' s traffic department drastically changed, along with his hours. The scariest part was when I got called in late at night a couple of times to fix sewer pumps, Irwin said. It was lightning and raining — not real fun. Manhattan residents joined the city employees in the late night war with water. For some, battling the elements into the wee hours of the morning was the only way they could save their possessions and salvage their homes. The first night we sandbagged, it rained all night, said Diana Lewis, freshman in fine arts. With the wind blowing, it was really a good way to catch a cold. Protecting their possessions was easier for the Lewis family than others. Because Garland Lewis was the information processing director for KSU Housing and Dining Services, he was allowed to use K-State trucks to transport their belongings to a warehouse and different friends ' houses. Although their possessions were safe, they worried about their home on Violet Circle. We ' ve always lived in this house, said Rachael Lewis, junior in business administration. My parents have been here for 20 years. The Lewis family had seen mild flooding in their area before, but nothing like the water that prompted carloads of volunteer sandbaggers to pour into their neighborhood. It always floods in the farmer ' s field out back when they open the tubes, but it ' s never affected our house before. In some places in our backyard, the water ' s 10 feet deep and then in some places it ' s only 1 foot deep. Usually there ' s a little river behind our house, but nothing like that, Diana Lewis said, toward the sea of water held a foot away from the house by a 4-foot wall of sandbags. Some Manhattan residents who (Continued on page 21)

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Adam McDiffet, resident of the Northview area, takes a break from sandbagging in the Dix addition. The sandbag 9 feet high in some places, were raised only to collapse a few days later. (Photo by J. Kyle Wyatt) The Tuttle Creek Reservoir spillway floodgates were opened for the first time in history on Monday, July 18, with an outflow of 15,000 cubic feet per second. Within a week, the outflow from the spillway was increased to 60,000 cfs. (Photo by J Kyle Wyatt)

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Residents of Hunters Island on South Manhattan Avenue near Fort Riley Boulevard. Manhattan and most of Hunters Island were underwater due to flooding from Creek. Residents had to rely on boats and large trucks to take them to their homes. (Photo by Cary Conover)