30th Anniversary Of Kansas City's Deadliest Flash Flood

Known locally also as "The Plaza Flood"- the rains began on the evening of September 12 and continued into the early morning hours of September 13- 1977.

Up to 15-inches fell in parts of the area- sending record flood crests down Brush Creek- Rock Creeks in Mission-Kansas and Independence-MO as well as several smaller tributaries of the Big Blue River.

Intersection of Ward Parkway & J.C. Nichols (Photo courtesy of The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - click on photos for full size)

Twenty-five people died that night across the K.C. Metro and damage was estimated at around $100-million 1977-dollars.

The tennis courts on The Plaza the morning after. Always wondered if the Monte Carlo on top of the Pinto in the lower right hand side of this photo was the same one floating in the top photo.

(Also see "KC Weather History" in the right column of this blog).

Brush Creek as it flows through the Country Club Plaza today. Note the red line on the footbridge- this was the water level here during the 1977 flood.

(CORRECTION: Dates and damage figure. Added image file)

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