Seventy-Five years ago this month, Kansas City experienced its worst natural disaster when the swollen Kansas (Kaw) River topped the levees protecting industrial districts and communities on both sides of the state line.
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Kansas City Public Library staff,
Kansas City Star,
1 July 2026
In his view, its role is merely to maintain the levees for flood protection.
City officials warned residents in the vicinity of the dikes to prepare to evacuate.
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Kansas City Public Library staff,
Kansas City Star,
1 July 2026
Constructing protective structures such as levees and dikes can help, as can preserving natural landscapes, such as wetlands and estuaries that can act as a natural sponge to absorb floodwaters, in and near the cities, Shao and her colleagues wrote.
But that friendship was betrayed as settlers dried up the Gila with upstream dams and diversions.
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Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
3 July 2026
Other risks to metal production from El Nino include the potential for aluminum and zinc shortages caused by low water levels in hydroelectric dams in China’s southern Yunnan province.
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