Took a tour today through the flooded part of Coffeyville. They have 3rd street open to US 169 and 166 so there is no more having to go through Independence, KS to get to work. Highway traffic from the east and north can now get through Coffeyville.

From what I could see the water came to the bottom of the roof of the single story home where I grew up. The black crude oil is everywhere and stinks to high heaven. They said there are no flamable fumes left though.

They found the body of a man in one of the motels today so there is at least one death associated with the flood. I imagine that most of the houses will be bought and demolished by the refinery. The authorities are only letting a very few people back into their homes which is just plain wrong IMHO. They don't seem to have any problems letting the looters in.

This has been one eventful week for Coffeyville.

Edwin

 

I was down to Iola on 169 today. They got a good overdose of water too! It's really a humbling experience to see the losses some folks have experienced.

In Osawatomie the water is back in it's banks. There are some low spots inside the dikes still holding some big puddles, but the smell requires focusing on the problems not the smell. The town need a good 2" rain just to clean it!!

 

But just think how green they're lawns will be next spring.. all that 'free" fertilizer...

 

I'm really wondering what they'll do with the hundreds of houses that were inundated with water and crude oil. My guess is that the refinery will buy them and then level them. They'll need to scrape up all of the oil covered dirt then.

In this town there is zero building. When somebody dies their house go to rot until the city knockes it down then it's a nice empty lot. Nothing gets rebuilt. This city is dying and this flood may be the coup de grāce.

I feel so sorry for the people who've had their lives turned upside down. Their houses all but destroyed along with everything in them. I am so lucky to have been on the other side of town. FEMA has promised to compensate these people but nothing can compensate them for the trauma of having everything they had owned taken away. Probably the only thing worse would be the death of a loved one. A lot of people in Iraq know this feeling. It's no wonder they hate us.

Edwin