Floods Kansas

Two rain-swollen rivers on either side of town flooded Tuesday, forcing more than 2,000 people from their homes, and the National Guard was sent in to prevent looting. By the end of the day, about 40% of Arkansas City was expected to be flooded, said Jim Lazelle, assistant civil defense director. One man is presumed drowned in the Arkansas River to the west after telling a friend he was going for a swim, Sheriff Bob Odell said. Farther north, near Newton, Kan.

Karla Mongan has gone door to door in Mississippi towns destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, handed out aid and comforted relatives of people who died during raging prairie wildfires. But nothing prepared the Red Cross volunteer for her latest assignment -- operating a shelter for residents of her hometown. Coffeyville was swamped by oil-slicked floodwaters this week. "It hits home when you can relate to everything that's going on," said Mongan, 40. "It's very devastating."

Sandbaggers returned to duty and people still recovering from the summer's floods faced new evacuations and road closings brought on by colossal amounts of rain in parts of Missouri and Kansas on Friday. An elderly man died when his car was washed off a flooded road. "It's just happening all over again," said Eric Evans of Missouri's Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City.

Two rain-swollen rivers on either side of town flooded Tuesday, forcing more than 2,000 people from their homes, and the National Guard was sent in to prevent looting. By the end of the day, about 40% of Arkansas City was expected to be flooded, said Jim Lazelle, assistant civil defense director. One man is presumed drowned in the Arkansas River to the west after telling a friend he was going for a swim, Sheriff Bob Odell said. Farther north, near Newton, Kan.

Karla Mongan has gone door to door in Mississippi towns destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, handed out aid and comforted relatives of people who died during raging prairie wildfires. But nothing prepared the Red Cross volunteer for her latest assignment -- operating a shelter for residents of her hometown. Coffeyville was swamped by oil-slicked floodwaters this week. "It hits home when you can relate to everything that's going on," said Mongan, 40. "It's very devastating."

Sandbaggers returned to duty and people still recovering from the summer's floods faced new evacuations and road closings brought on by colossal amounts of rain in parts of Missouri and Kansas on Friday. An elderly man died when his car was washed off a flooded road. "It's just happening all over again," said Eric Evans of Missouri's Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City.