Kansas City was Devastated by the 1951 Flood. Learn How It Still Shapes Our City Today

Seventy-five years ago today, Kansas City experienced its worst natural disaster when the swollen Kansas (Kaw) River topped the levees protecting industrial districts and communities on both sides of the state line. Two months of heavy rainfall resulted in then-unfathomable devastation that still reverberates today.

KCQ looks back at the 1951 Flood and marks the opening of a new Kansas City Public Library exhibition, Hell and High Water, at the Central Library.

Flooding began on the evening of July 12, 1951. The following day, July 13, saw such destruction that it earned the name Black Friday. 

From May through July, monthly rainfall totals in Kansas and Missouri were three to four times higher than usual. Locals joked about building arks, because in some areas it had literally rained for 40 days and 40 nights. 

Read the rest of the story at KCHistory.org or on The Kansas City Star website. Plus, access The Kansas City Star articles, both past and present, on the Library website with a Library card.