wichita has had bad floods of the arkansas river in 1877, 1904, 1916, 1923, 1944, 1951 and 1955. in 1944, wichita flooded 3 times in 11 days. because of the 1944 flood, wichita built the wichita-valley center floodway in 1958. it makes the water go around wichita.