Flood of 1951 July 13, 1951 has been called by some Black
Friday. It was on this day that one of the most costly floods in
Kansas’ history swept down the Kansas River valley into the
Missouri River basin. The Kansas River valley had flooded before
but not with this magnitude and damage. During the period of
July 9-13, some areas in the Kansas River basin received 18.5
inches of rain. The eastern half of the basin averaged 8 inches.
The flooding started above Manhattan on the Big Blue River. The
Manhattan business district was eventually covered with eight
feet of water. Downstream flooding continued in Topeka,
Lawrence, and Kansas City. In Topeka alone about 7,000 buildings
were damaged or destroyed. The rising river waters caused
transportation throughout the river basin to come to a halt.
Roads were washed away and railroad tracks moved. Communication
lines were downed. Altogether one hundred sixteen cities and
towns were affected; 85,000 persons had to be evacuated from
their homes; 22,000 residences in th