GARDNER, Kan. (KCTV) – Homes along Gardner Lake are drying out after nearly 10 inches of rain fell in a single night, flooding basements, covering docks, and sending torrents of water down the lake’s spillway.
Longtime residents say they’ve never seen anything like it.
Tom Steel, who has lived on the lake for 25 years, said the water rose faster than he’s ever seen before. During the day, he helped his neighbors pull boats out of their yards and return other personal items, like docks, that broke off and floated away during the storm.
Much of the damage was kept from getting worse thanks to the lake’s spillway, which channels overflow away from nearby homes. Typically, the flow is light – more of a trickle. But today, it looked like part of a whitewater rafting course…