Please be aware!
The Sabetha dam is reported to be in the process of failure. When the dam breaks this will mean flooding for a small portion of the Delaware- south of Sabetha to south of Fairview. No occupied structures in Brown County should be affected.
Any Sabetha structures in harms way have already been contacted by Nemaha County Emergency Management. The Nemaha County Sheriff, Nemaha County Emergency Management,City of Sabetha, KS Dept of Agriculture,Kansas Department of Emergency Management, Kansas Dept of Wildlife Parks and Tourism and the National Weather Service are all working together as this situation unfolds. Any updated information will be provided as soon as reasonable. -Statement issued by Nemaha Co Emergency Management
The Sabetha dam is reported to be in the process of failure. When the dam breaks this will mean flooding for a small portion of the Delaware- south of Sabetha to south of Fairview. No occupied structures in Brown County should be affected.
Any Sabetha structures in harms way have already been contacted by Nemaha County Emergency Management. The Nemaha County Sheriff, Nemaha County Emergency Management,City of Sabetha, KS Dept of Agriculture,Kansas Department of Emergency Management, Kansas Dept of Wildlife Parks and Tourism and the National Weather Service are all working together as this situation unfolds. Any updated information will be provided as soon as reasonable. -Statement issued by Nemaha Co Emergency Management
The following statement was released by the Kansas Dept of Agriculture Thursday
The Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources (KDA-DWR) and the Kansas Water Office (KWO) are aware that there is erosion on a watershed dam south of Sabetha, and staff have been monitoring the situation since early Tuesday. While the situation is serious, no significant change has occurred during that time and dam failure is not imminent, contrary to reports shared Thursday.
Maps have been developed for significant and high hazard dams in Kansas that show the area that would be flooded if the dam were to fail. In this case, if the watershed dam south of Sabetha were to fail, the map indicates that agricultural lands would be flooded, as well as a couple of local roads (County Road 220 and County Road 250). Those roads have not been impacted at this time, but have been closed in a precautionary measure.
Mapping does not show water would extend over Highway 36 or out of the banks for more than a few miles downstream and does not indicate flooding in other areas with significant residential or commercial development.
(KNZA)--A Flash Flood Warning was issued Thursday afternoon for portions of Nemaha, Brown, and Jackson counties, in Kansas, by the National Weather Service in reference to a dam failure one mile south of Sabetha.
However, Nemaha County Emergency Management Director Russel Lierz told MSC News following the issuance that the failure is not imminent, but the status of the dam is being monitored closely.
Sabetha City Administrator Doug Allen told MSC News a sink hole has developed below the watershed dam, which is located above the City’s wastewater plant. “Tuesday morning we noticed it probably about 5 by 10 feet wide, and several feet down, and it’s just since been growing. We’ve had the state water office up here helping out, and Nemaha County Preparedness has been involved. We’re just watching the hole increase all the time. Eventually they think it’s going to be a breach and it will get through. There’s been somebody from the state here all day until early evening the last three or four days. They really don’t have a clue when it will happen, [but] the hole’s getting bigger and bigger all the time, so eventually it’s going to break through.”
The Flash Flood Warning is issued for east central Nemaha County, northeastern Jackson County, and southwestern Brown County until 10:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30.
The dam south of Sabetha has not failed yet, but it could in the next hour or two. Flooding has yet to begin in Nemaha CO. #kswx
— NWS Topeka (@NWSTopeka) May 30, 2019
The National Weather Service reports the flooding would impact U.S. Highway 36, about 3 miles south of the dam, and the Kickapoo Reservation, west of Horton, which includes the Golden Eagle Casino.
The weather service says the water could rise to near 13.8 feet at U.S. highway 36 just over an hour after a dam failure, and to near 11.2 feet at U.S. highway 75, 3 ½ hours after a failure.
, If/when the dam fails in Nemaha CO, The water will flow south, away from Sabetha. #kswx
— NWS Topeka (@NWSTopeka) May 30, 2019
