THE FLOODWATERS are receding in Coffeyville, but that is one of the few pieces of good news for the old border town.
Because of the oil spill from the flooded refinery, the water is leaving behind a poisonous mixture of mud, oil and bacteria. The gunk covers lawns and streets, houses and businesses. Many families in Coffeyville will find themselves starting again from scratch if their houses cannot be salvaged.
Coffeyville is not the only Kansas community that will be months or years recovering from the latest floods, but the oil spill places it in a category all its own. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with the Environmental Protection Agency to decide what can be salvaged and what should be scrapped. Acres of topsoil may have to be removed and replaced to get rid of the worst contamination.
Kansas seems to have become Disaster Central this year. Blizzards buried the southwest counties for days. When the snow finally melted, it caused floods.
Then came the spring and the violent storms. Greensburg was swallowed whole by a monster tornado. That series of storms also brought the year’s first round of floods in central and eastern Kansas.
Now there has been another round of flooding, worse than the first.
The National Guard has been on the governor’s speed dial all year and FEMA is spending so much time in the state that it might as well move its headquarters here and save itself the long commute from Washington.
There is no doubt that Kansas has been having a rough year and no guarantee that there will not be more bad weather down the road. But Kansans can take pride in the way they have dealt with adversity.
With the help of local, state and federal governments, cleanup and relief efforts have been swift and massive. People not in the areas affected by the storms have continued to be generous with their labor and their aid.
The state’s motto is “To the stars through difficulties” and Kansas has had difficulties enough for two or three states this year.
But somehow, Kansans have managed to keep their eyes on the stars.