KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
—
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced it will give the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, over $250,000 to strengthen its floodplain management capabilities.
The funding comes from a larger, $16 million amount for flooding mitigation areas across the midwest, including Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.
Flooding is a hot topic in KCK, especially over the past year, where the area saw historic rainfall and subsequent flooding.
"This grant will fund a project that aims to strengthen floodplain management capabilities within the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, City of Kansas City, Kansas (UG). This capacity-building project will support the UG’s flood resilience goals, and work toward achieving a higher Community Rating System (CRS) classification, thereby reducing National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) insurance premiums," according to a Region 7 FEMA spokesperson.
KSHB 41 has visited the Argentine neighborhood multiple times after it flooded in May 2025, and neighbors have since expressed frustration with what they claim is a lack of solutions from officials.
KSHB 41’s Alyssa Jackson covered a study between the UG and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that saw several delays.
In March, a UG Public Works spokesperson shared the following results.
“Based on the information shared with the UG, our understanding remains that a closed flood gate was a primary factor in the flooding impacts experienced during that event,” the spokesperson wrote. “That gate was under the control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractor during the federal project.”
The spokesperson added that “from the UG’s side, our team reviewed its own flood protection assets following the event, and has continued outreach related to system operations and community concerns. Regarding pump stations, the central issue identified in connection with the flooding event was not a failure of UG pump station infrastructure, but the closed gate referenced above.”
Ramón Murguia has lived in KCK’s Argentine neighborhood his whole life.
His home sits right next to one of the UG’s pump stations.
He is well-versed in his neighborhood’s history and shared that the area has had issues with flooding for as long as he can remember.
Murguia recalls efforts made in the 1970s to do urban renewal, but he said the area’s single sewer system creates problems when it rains.
He said Argentine was its own municipality early on and that when the sewer system was put down there, it was a combined sewer system.
He would like to see it separated into two separate ones to help alleviate issues he and his neighbors have experienced for years.
“We’re hopeful that the UG will finally pay some attention to the problems people have had down here with water in their basements backing up, and do something to address it with the sewer system,” Murguia said.
Over on the other side of town, resident Chester Holliday is dealing with sewer system issues in his home.
KSHB 41’s Isabelle Ledonne visited Holliday’s home after last year’s historic rainfall.
His neighborhood’s sewer system runs through his backyard, and the UG built a drain after his original one eroded.
After last year’s flooding, the waters pushed UG’s drain out of the ground, leaving behind cement bricks and debris.
Holliday said he and his neighbor reached out to the UG for help.
His neighbor said he heard back from the UG that their backyards were on its radar, but they have still been waiting to get their backyards fixed.
“The water gets kind of high,” Holliday said. “My neighbor, you see, he got kids, and I don’t want them to get hurt behind it. They’ll get it fixed.”
Murguia is not as sure.
“Being south of the river, we always feel like we’re left out of major solutions to problems, and being east of 635, it’s the same situation for us here in Argentine,” Murguia said.
He said the funding from FEMA is a start, but there is years of issues to help alleviate.
“I don’t think it’s sufficient for the scope of the problem we have down here in Argentine,” Murguia said.
More than financial compensation, Murguia hopes the UG will pay attention to his neighborhood.
“It’s a matter of respect,” Murguia said. “That people understand that we’re working class families here that are just trying to raise their families the right way, but having to deal with issues of flooding causes economic hardship for many families. And so, we just want to make sure that the government is doing its job, and playing its role in helping communities like our overcome these issues with flooding.”
—
