Kansans Return to Take Stock of Flood Damage

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In Southeast Kansas today, hundreds of residents of Coffeyville began returning to their homes for the first time since the flood on July 1st. In addition to the water damage, the flood inundated a local oil refinery, and that led to the accidental release of tens of thousands of gallons of fuel.

NPR's Jason Beaubien was with some of the residents as they went back to assess the damage.

JASON BEAUBIEN: At 10 this morning, the mandatory evacuation of the east side of Coffeyville was lifted. National Guard trucks and Humvees pulled out of intersections, state police rolled back their barricades, and residents rushed in to the area for the first time in 11 days.

Ron Madren(ph) and his wife, Caroline(ph), are getting ready to go into the office of what used to be their used car business. Brown watermarks rise above the door. Across the threshold, the floor is covered in black, silty mud. Ron pulls open the drawer of a filing cabinet, but everything is soaked.

Mr. RON MADREN (Resident, Coffeyville): Yup. It's totally ruined. Nothing left.

BEAUBIEN: In addition to their office, the Madrens lost 80 cars that they head on their lot.

Mr. MADREN: There's no insurance on any of the buildings so - or the vehicles. Pretty much total loss.

BEAUBIEN: The July 1st flood breached the levee that runs along the east side of Coffeyville. More than a thousand residents were ordered to leave their homes in the middle of the night. The flood also hit a sprawling gas refinery complex, which caused the spill of 70,000 gallons of crude oil. Sid Tracy(ph) has just returned to his small bungalow south of the river.

Mr. SID TRACY (Resident, Coffeyville): The oil is into everything. There's nothing recoverable.

BEAUBIEN: The grass in his backyard is covered in a long oil slick. Black lines mixed with brown silt lines on the walls of his house. And inside, it's even worse.

Mr. TRACY: There's oil standing in pots and pans. There's oil soaked in all the cabinets. Everything I have picked up and looked at has oil residue on it. There's nothing that I can - I don't think I can salvage.

BEAUBIEN: Tracy, who's a maintenance worker at the local hospital, rents this house. He had renters insurance, but his policy doesn't cover flood damage. He says the worse thing is all the photographs of his children, still in their frames that are scattered on the floor and the bookshelf, but coated in mud and oil. The refinery, Coffeyville Resources, has set up a hotline for residents, and the company says it will compensate people who's property was damaged by the oil. Federal and state disaster officials are also in Coffeyville today. The mayor, Virgil Horn, who also lost his home, calls the disaster unimaginable, but says the city will recover.

Jason Beaubien, NPR News, Coffeyville, Kansas.

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