Kansas, Missouri storms lead to water rescues, 1 death
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Authorities blamed flash-flooding Tuesday for the death of a man whose car was swept away by a torrent linked to thunderstorms that pummeled portions of Kansas and Missouri, prompting numerous rescues of stranded motorists and others who scrambled to safety atop a roof and tree.
Sheriff’s officials in Kansas’ Miami County say the body of 56-year-old Robert Dean Schoenhals of Pleasanton was found about 2 1/2 hours after a deputy reported seeing Schoenhals try to drive through high standing water on a highway before dawn and hydroplane into a ditch with deep, rushing water.
Schoenhals’ car was found unoccupied about 45 minutes later, roughly 150 yards (135 metres) from where it left the road. The man’s body was found about 7:20 a.m., about 75 yards (70 metres) from his vehicle.
To the northeast in Kansas City, police and fire departments reported receiving more than 130 calls for water rescues during the storms that stretched from Monday night into the next morning, with dozens of others fielded in the suburbs.