It’s been five years since a flash flood swept through Jacob Creek in the Flint Hills, killing six people – including five members of the same family.
KSN will be airing a story about the tragedy on its 10 p.m. newscast tonight, including an interview with Robert Rogers about how he dealt with the devastating loss of his wife, Melissa, and four children: Makenah, Zachary, Nicholas and Alenah.
Al Larsen also died in the flood on that dark night of Aug. 30, 2003, swept away as he checked vehicles stranded in the rising waters for people who needed rescuing.
Six crosses mark the site where the flood struck in Chase County, and I’ve lost count of the number of people who tell me that they look for those crosses every time they drive through that area.
In the interest of full disclosure, I may be mentioned in the story as well since I co-wrote a book with Robert about that nightmarish event, his miraculous survival and the grueling days that followed.
It’s not the first time that members of a family died in a flash flood on Jacob Creek – a mother and her infant daughter were killed in 1886 – but Labor Day weekend of 2003 offered vivid testimony of how suddenly a weather-driven disaster can occur.
As if the folks of Tornado Alley need any reminders.