Grand Lake Flood Pool 90% Full

"But Honey, you told me the retaining wall was built to 755." Actual lake level when this photo was taken was 753.

Sunday update: Grand Lake crested at 754.54 at 8 a.m. Sunday; by 9 p.m. it had dropped to 754.47 with five gates open; 50,500 cfs was coming in, 57,665 cfs being let out via generation and the five floodgates. Barring further rain, the lake should slowly drop during the coming week, although the Corps has continued cutting back on releases to allow Lake Hudson and Fort Gibson to reduce their levels.


Saturday Update: Grand Lake was at 754.21 Saturday at 6 a.m. with releases of 70,435 cfs and inflow of 83,000 cfs, with 8 gates open 15 feet and full generation. The Corps had forecast crest on Monday at 754.20 but that has already been exceeded. At Miami, 67,000 cfs was still coming down Saturday morning with 57,770 cfs at Commerce.

Some Grand Lake Residents who did not purchase waterfront property suddenly found themselves the proud new owners of lakefront land, with this week's flood, expected to crest Friday at 754.10 according to the Army Corps of Engineers. On Wednesday, 135,000 cubic feet of water per second was entering the lake at Miami, with total releases of 105,000 via 14 floodgates and full generation. Barring additional rain, the lake should start to drop Friday night. Thursday morning the lake stood at 753.60.

Huge trees and logs, like a freight train, streamed down the lake to Shangri-La Point with rafts of small branches and junk. Waterfront property owners are going to have their hands full cleaning up the mess, while receiving mixed signals from GRDA as to what can be legally done.

Lake Hudson and Fort Gibson, below Pensacola Dam, are expected to be 100% full on Friday.

The 10 inches of rain over southeast Kansas last week sent the Neosho to a record 29 feet in Miami at 8 a.m. Wednesday with up to 146,000 cfs at one point this week. This was the second biggest flood in Miami history, rivaling one in 1951 when the river went to 31 feet.