For many Kansans, certain years are marked with a natural disaster that affected a good portion of the state. Though it’s safe to say you weren’t alive for this event, the flood of 1903 should never be forgotten. There were many floods in this area, but the one that hit Topeka that year was by far the worst of them all. Let’s take a look back through history and remember what happened that day.

The year was 1903, and Kansas had been battered with late April freezes, tornadoes in mid-May, and more.
CJOnline/YouTube
On May 29, rivers had been rising for almost a week, and rain wasn't letting up. The Topeka area of Kansas flooded, as well as other towns along the river.
Railroads couldn't move, and neither could most residents, because of the rising waters.
CJOnline/YouTube
Water filled people's homes, and it's estimated that around 4,000 people left their homes behind when the water filled them. By June 1st, dead animals and standing water threatened to make everyone ill.

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Survivors were stranded when a portion of Melan Bridge collapsed and left people stuck in north Topeka.
Marion Doss/Flickr
It's not as if we had airplanes, automobiles, or mass radio to help us communicate. Only one of the seven railroad bridges in town even survived.
Few towns along the river were spared. A rough total of 57 dead (38 in Topeka) was established, as well as a new flood plan put into place.
CJOnline/YouTube
Those measures taken soon after this flood helped lessen the effects of the 1951 flood that would also test the area's disaster planning.

We don't have footage of that fateful flood, but we can see just how much of an impact it had in photo slideshows.

In this video by YouTuber CJOnline, you can truly feel the destruction from the flood.

Though you may or may not remember this event, the plane crash in Kansas that destroyed a whole neighborhood is also something we should never forget. What are some other events that left their mark on Kansas’ history? Feel free to share with us in the comments below.

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