CSW Weather: NWS Flood Watch Covers Central- Northern K.C. MetroRegion

After nearly a week of dry summer weather- the monsoons return to the Central States and the Kansas City MetroRegion.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Pleasant Hill has a large portion of the MetroRegion in a Flood Watch from Sunday morning July 4 until Monday afternoon- July 5.

The NWS statement has the following areas-counties included in the Flood Watch:

* FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF KANSAS AND MISSOURI...INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING (Counties):
 
IN KANSAS- ATCHISON... DONIPHAN... JOHNSON... LEAVENWORTH AND WYANDOTTE.

IN MISSOURI- ADAIR...  ANDREW... ATCHISON... BUCHANAN... CALDWELL...CLAY... CLINTON... DAVIESS... DE KALB... GENTRY... GRUNDY... HARRISON... HOLT... JACKSON... LINN... LIVINGSTON... MERCER... NODAWAY... PLATTE... PUTNAM... RAY... SCHUYLER... SULLIVAN AND WORTH.


The remains of Hurricane Alex has pushed tropical moisture into the Central States- and could produce more rounds of flooding rains from Nebraska and Iowa southward across Kansas and Missouri.

One graphic from the NWS shown here- indicates as much as 9 to 10-inches of rain could fall in the northern K.C. MetroRegion through the next 5 days!


Rivers and groundwater tables are still high from June's excessive rains- so it wouldn't take more than a couple of inches to re-saturate the ground in most areas.

The one plus note with all the incoming rain is that there should be little if any severe weather like high winds- large hail or tornadoes.


Of course- commercial and ad-free CSW will bring you the latest text and pictures if flooding does occur and we'll be up through the overnight Sunday morning with the latest.

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Fireworks Device Causes Concern in Blue Springs MO

Blue Springs police and Central Jackson County (CJC) Fire Protection District units were called to Northwest 11th Street and Hearns Avenue on the report of a suspicious device found by a citizen.

The device was determined by CJC Fire crews to be "an unexploded sparkler bomb."


We didn't hear what was done with the bomb- but there were no reports of evacuations in the surrounding residential area or of any injuries caused by the device.

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CSW BREAKING: "Huge Water Main Break" in KC-MO Northland

That's an exact quote from a KCFD-EMS crew at 7:17 a.m.- the location of this in the latest of main breaks is on North Antioch just south of Interstate 35.


No doubt there will be lane/road closures and water outages/pressure reductions for those in that area of the KC-MO Northland.

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Two Men Injured- One Critically in Eastside KC-MO Shooting

Gunfire interrupted the numerous illegal fireworks on Kansas City's Eastside Saturday morning.


At 1:18 a.m.- the city's emergency services were sent to a reported shooting in the 4700 block of East 40th Place.

Before police arrive- the 2 victims reportedly leave the 40th Place scene in "a black (Chevy) Tahoe" and- at 1;24 a.m.- have pulled up to the Veteran's Administration hospital in the 4800 block of East Linwood.


A "25-year-old male" was shot in his right thigh and he was taken to the V.A.'s non-trauma-rated emergency room- then transferred by Fire dept. EMS to a Metro medical trauma center in serious to critical condition. 

The 2nd victim was "27-years-old" and shot in his right ankle- otherwise in good condition.


Police say "3 black males" said to be the suspects- left the scene in "a white 2-door Chevy Impala."

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CSW BREAKING: Fatality Crash in Far Eastern KC-MO

This crash was between 2 vehicles on hazardous Noland Road at Little Blue Road.


Reported to emergency services at 3:12 a.m.- the crash involved at least 2 males in one vehicle and a female driver with an unknown number of passengers in the other vehicle.

The male driver of the first vehicle died at the scene- trapped in the wreckage. The male passenger was taken to an area hospital in serious to critical condition.

The female driver of the 2nd vehicle was believed not seriously injured and also required extrication- but the passengers refused EMS transport to a medical facility.


No word if intoxication played a role.


The crash is still under investigation- so yet no word who did what.

More on KSHB-41 NBC Action News at 7 a.m.- 5 and 10 p.m..

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CSW BREAKING: Train Fire With Tankers of Hazardous Materials Involved in Sugar Creek MO

KC-MO Fire department Haz-Mat along with units from Independence are assisting Sugar Creek Fire with a train fire.

The incident is on railroad mainline tracks near Vermont and Cement City Road and was reported to Sugar Creek emergency dispatch at 1:47 a.m. Saturday morning.

It has been reported the fire resulted when a malfunction on a car of the moving train derailed.

At least one rail tanker car comtaining the chemical Toluene has "exploded-" and at least one other tanker car is heavily-involved in fire.

That tanker and a third car that became involved in fire contained  liquid animal fat and recycled oil.



As of 4 a.m. fire commanders still didn't know the extent of the fire- which was about 1/4-mile west of the Vermont Avenue crossing off Kentucky Road.

No report of any widespread evacuations as the fire was in a fairly unpopulated area with south-southeasterly winds generally blowing any toxic smoke away from close-by heavily-populated areas.

At 4:05 a.m. it was reported that "the Birmingham Wastewater Plant" in KC-MO north of the Missouri river "has been evacuated."

There was yet no report of any evacuation of the unincorporated community of Birmingham itself or the nearby Ameristar Casino,

By 6:30 a.m.- 2 locomotives also became involved in the fire,  Those engines contained about 8000 gallons of diesel and were destroyed.

It wasn't until about 11:15 a.m.- or more than 9 hours after the initial alarm- when Sugar Creek firefighters- overseen by railroad officials- attempted to extinguish what fire remained.


On a positive note- there have been no reports of injuries .

A full report on this fire on KSHB-41 NBC Action News at  5 and 10 p.m..

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KC-MO Clowncilman Russs Johnson: Playing Children's Games With Taxpayer's Money

I couldn't at first- grasp what I was seeing on the TV news Thursday night.

Coming across like an immature 10-year-old was Clowncilman Russs Johnson- telling the TV news cameras that if Mayor Funkhouser's lawsuits could cost the city nearly a million dollars- the Clowncil had every right to re-institute those annual millions of dollars in subsidies to the corporate sports teams at the Truman Sports Complex.

So Clowncilman Johnson- let's see if I got what you were saying correctly:  YOU justify the Clowncil frittering away millions of taxpayer dollars BECAUSE some cluck sued Mayor Funkhouser over things the Mayor's wife said or did?


So the KC-MO City Clowncil- with the Mayor's lawsuits being their justification- will continue to shovel more taxpayer money to corporate interests (stadiums- convention hotels- etc.- etc.- etc.).

Meanwhile- sewer and water lines in the city continue to rupture- public transit gets cut- streets remain in deplorable condition- etc.- etc.- etc..


KC-MO voters- it's time we got the children out of City Hall.

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BP: Save your TV Commercial Budget and PAY THOSE YOU HAVE HARMED

British Petroleum's latest TV commercials have fallen on mostly deaf- and certainly more than a few angry ears.

I switch them off completely when they come on.

The company responsible for the CONTINUED mile-deep underwater oil gusher seems to have the money to run bogus "feel-good about BP cleaning up the mess we caused" commercials.

All those commercials are serving to do is make America's Gulf of Mexico residents and many who do NOT live along the Gulf even angrier.

Why doesn't BP pay the FULL SALARIES of all the employees who have been made jobless by BP and their friends' incompetence?

Wouldn't the MILLIONS BP is spending on these TV commercials be better spent in sealing the oil gusher- cleaning up the spewed oil and the areas it's devastated and making COMPLETE restitution to those financially damaged/destoyed by BP's incompetence?

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KC-MO's City 'Clowncil' Approves Subsidy For Pro Sports Corporations

The Kansas City City 'Clowncil' gives ONLY lip service to the resident's needs in this town- proven today during the City Clowncil meeting.


In spite of ALL the cuts to city services that KC residents use and need every day- this Clowncil finds the dollars to support professional sports teams whose employees make MILLIONS of dollar a year.

Mayor Funkhouser had wisely- in view of the city's terrible revenue deficts- yanked the city's non-binding share of money for the Truman Sports Complex- where Royals and Arrowhead stadiums are located.

The Mayor wisely stated that the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Well- the City Clowncil today said FU to the residents of Kansas City MO and restored that several million dollar annual and non-binding payment to Jackson County who ALSO has no business being in the pro sport stadium business.

So the conclusion is that Kansas City MO's City Clowncil cares more about keeping millionaires happy than trying to satisfy the many needs of Kansas City MO's residents.

My conclusion is that these career pollys-  the likes of Deb Hermannn and Cindy Circo- need to be FAR removed from KC-MO taxpayer's money (see also a 1000-room convention hotel that this Clowncil has invested nearly a million bucks into already).


We can't AFFORD the present Kansas City City Clowncil!!!

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Some Area Lakes Have Closed or Restricted Beaches Due to High Water

The heavy rains of the past couple of months have caused the US Army Corps of Engineers to restrict or totally close beaches on some of their reservoirs due to high water levels.

Those lakes according to the TOPEKA (KS) Capital Journal are- "Tuttle Creek, Lake Perry and Lake Milford in Kansas, and at Harry S Truman Lake in Missouri, Harlan County Lake in Nebraska and Rathburn Lake in Iowa."

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DC Republicrats Say FU To 1.3 Million Unemployed Americans

President Obama- make the House and Senate work THROUGH the Fourth of July holiday UNTIL both bodies PASS extended unemployment benefits for up to 1.5 million Americans.

Come on Republicrats- you gave Corporate America BILLIONS to bail their sorry-asses out- so you can fork over the funds to HELP OUT THE AMERICAN CITIZENS DIRECTLY!


Are you unemployed VOTERS paying attention?

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Single-Engine Planes Crash Kills 2 in Jefferson County KS

The Jefferson County (JfCo) KS Sheriff's department reports that a light plane with 2 occupants on-board crashed just before 8 a.m..

The crash site was reported to be east of Lake Perry and north of U.S. 24 in southeastern JfCo.

Photo screen capture courtesy of the LAWRENCE (KS) JOURNAL-WORLD.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the plane arrived in Kansas City on Wednesday evening from "Hamilton Municipal Airport in New York" and that the plane had departed K.C. this morning for a destination in Arizona.

The plane had almost reached Salina KS- when the pilot turned around- apparently experincing engine trouble.

The LJW says the plane's engine quit shortly before the crash as the pilot was trying to make an emergency landing at the Lawrence Municipal airport.

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Hurricane Alex Nears Mexico's Gulf Coast South of Brownsville TX

Here are a few views via visible satellite and weather radar- of Hurricane Alex which is a Category 1 hurricane in the western Gulf of Mexico about 150 miles south-southeast of Brownsville Texas.

On the earlier radar images from Brownsville- an eye was visible- although that eye was not indicated on the earliest visible satellite images.

Alex could briefly become a Category 2 hurricane before landfall.

Alex's eye has become more diffused on later radar images..

Alex will continue to move west-northwest today and should make landfall just south of Brownsville by tonight.

We'll also be watching the future movements of the remnants of Alex- and whether it will affect the weather here in the Central States later this Fourth of July weekend or early next week.

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CSW BREAKING: Apartment Building Fire in Lawrence KS

Five companies of the Lawrence KS Fire deaprtment as well as EMS and police units are on-the-scene of an apartment building fire in south-central Lawrence.

The alarm came in at 7:29 p.m. Wednesday evening for the building fire in the 1900 block of West 24th Street.

Minutes later a Lawrence police officer arrived reporting smoke- flames "an active" fire.


This structure is reported vacant- and no injuries have been reported as of this post.

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Are YOU Getting Paid For Those Pictures and Videos YOU Send to TV News?

I've asked a few times on the blog here- but TV stations do this ALL the time:   "If you have any pictures or videos of XXX- send them to XXX.XXX- our TV stations' email."

Let me be very clear- CSW is totally non-profit and non-commercial.  If I'm asking readers to send me any photos or videos of something- it's STRICTLY on the premise of informing others.


But- if I COULD afford to pay you for your published photo- say I was a corporation like one of Kansas City's television stations/newspapers- I most certainly would pay you for any of your content that is published.

It's like- well dear viewer- you saved US the expense of sending a photographer- and in many cases- your visual as or shortly after whatever happened was compelling and boosted our ratings/sales.  Yeah- it's worth at least say- 20 bucks (stuff you could sell to a show's producer or a national news organization for $5K).

No- there's NO offer of ANY cash compensation for your photo or video. 

And if that visual was good enough for sale- the fact you sent it to that TV station or newspaper now has it plastered everywhere via network and/or Internet for anybody's use- ethical or not.


Folks- if you're going to send the TV stations and newspapers photos of news/weather events for free- at least send them to CSW too.

Better yet- contact me here at CSW first- I'll frankly tell you if your visuals can make you some money- tell you who you can contact and where so you can make that money- and my only charge will be that I can post some teasers of your work on this blog.


Even if it's not Emmy-award-winning- please send your news- weather and interesting visuals to CSW and help tell the world what's REALLY going on.

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Truman Medical Center-Hospital Hill "Out of Service" Overnights This Weekend

Patients wanting to go by ambulance to Truman Med Center's Hospital Hill facility at 2301 Holmes have been turned away during the overnights this weekend as the hospital has been reported "out-of-service" by KC-MO Fire department EMS service.

Patients suffering trauma (shootings- assaults- car wrecks- etc.) between my Metro monitoring hours of midnight to 7 a.m. had to go to trauma-rated facilities as Research- St. Luke's-Plaza- K.U. Med Center or North Kansas City hospital.


I've not yet been able to reach an authority at Truman Med Center who can and will tell me why Metro Kansas City's busiest hospital was "out-of-service" at least both Saturday and Sunday mornings. 

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Early Sunday Morning Police Pursuits in KC-MO- Leawood KS

There were 2 police pursuits of note overnight...

The first chase began around 2:05 a.m. in the vicinity of 85th Street and Troost in south KC-MO after a Metro Patrol police officer attempted to stop a small- white car for an unknown cause.

The car possibly containing up to 3 occupants sped off- racing westbound on 85th Street at speeds of 60 to 70 m.p.h. and speeding through red lights.

By 2:09 a.m.- the chase is southbound on State Line Road at reported speeds of "100 m.p.h.-" and the suspect vehicle isn't stopping at ANY red lights in it's path,

Leawood police are notified- but none of their cars arrive before the chase reaches Interstate 435.

The white car turns eastbound on I-435- then south at the Triangle to the U.S. 71 Red Bridge Road exit- and then east again on Red Bridge.

The police helicopter is now above the pursuit.

The chase continues into Ruskin Heights until- at 2:18 a.m.- the driver ditches the car at Longview Road and Sycamore Terrace and runs.

Within minutes- the driver- and possibly the other occupants- were in police custody.



The other pursuit was a brief one- in Leawood KS..

The driver of the vehicle being chased lost control and hit a tree at 103rd Street and Mission Road just after 3:30 a.m..

That "29-year-old male driver" was taken to a Kansas Metro medical trauma center with non life-threatening injuries- and believed to be under the influence of alcohol.

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Man Seriously Injured After ATV Flips in Miami County KS

A man in his 40's is in serious to critical condition at a Metro Kansas City hospital after flipping his ATV on a rural road in Miami county KS early Sunday morning.

The accident occurred about 12:30 a.m. at 255th Street and Columbia Road near the unincorporated community of Hillsdale.

According to a Research-Eagle medical helicopter paramedic- the man- who was not wearing a helmet and was travelling at a "fairly high speed-" flipped over the handlebars of the ATV when the machine lost control and the man landed on the asphalt pavement head-first.



Alcohol possibly played a role in this crash- according to emergency services reports.

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Cross-over Crash in Johnson County KS Injures 4

A crash on 175th Street east of Gardner just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning has seriously injured the four occupants of one car.

The wreck involved an westbound SUV that crossed the center line of 175th just east of I-35 and struck an eastbound medium-sized red car containing the 4 occupants.

Among the injured were a 19-year-old male and female- as well as a 7-year-old child who was flown to Children's Mercy with critical injuries.

The two most badly injured- neither in immediately life-threatening condition according to medical reports- were flown to hospitals by medical helicopters.


Reports are that this crash involved intoxication- with the "38-year-old male" driver of the SUV who was not injured being arrested.


The JoCo Sheriff's department had wrapped up their investigation and re-opened 175th Street by 6 a.m..

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CSW BREAKING: Henry County MO Firefighters Battle Large Fire in Clinton

Just after midnight came the report of a large structure fire in Clinton MO..

After a few calls- the Henry County Sheriff's dispatcher told CSW that the fire was in "the Alva Allen Industries building at 1001 North 3rd Street" in Clinton.

Although out of radio range- we've heard mutual-aid responses of fire departments in Cass and Johnson County MO to Clinton and other fire stations in Henry county.

More information- along with video from the fire scene- can be seen later today on KSHB-41 NBC Action News.

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