KCK small businesses tend to flood damage while trying to keep business as usual
Businesses in Kansas City, Kansas, have long known that hefty evening rainfall — more often than not — means nasty shop cleanups the following morning. Thursday was no different.
And as thousands of residents across the Kansas City metro woke to flash flooding alerts, owners and employees in the strip of local businesses on KCK’s Seventh Street, which saw notable flooding, headed in to assess the inevitable.
Businesses among the numerous Hispanic-owned restaurants and shops on the strip told The Star that they temporarily lost power, that their air conditioning gave out, that their ceilings leaked from within and that they started their work days splashing through thin pools of water.
They also rolled their sleeves up, swept out any excess water and tried to carry on as usual.
Storms ravaged the metro on Wednesday evening, resulting in damages to vehicles, homes and businesses and necessitating dozens of water rescues across the region.
And while this week’s storms have been more extreme, property damage after summertime rainfall isn’t a new issue in eastern KCK neighborhoods like Argentine, Armourdale and Strawberry Hill.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK’s environmental services department has said that current infrastructure, combined with debris clogging area basins and grates, doesn’t have the capacity to handle rapidly-incoming, high-volume rains that have recently fallen on the city.
The government in a Thursday afternoon statement said that drainage pumps operated as intended and that assessments on property damage will take longer due to Unified Government staffing limitations. It advised residents avoid driving through the city’s south end where most flooding occurred.
“At least 30 to 40 trees have been reported down citywide, and that number is expected to increase as inspections continue,” according to the statement. “Some areas that experienced flooding had not seen high water since the 1993 flood, underscoring the intensity and rarity of this storm.”
Businesses carry on
Sabor Hidalguense, a Mexican restaurant that opened a few weeks ago along Seventh, saw its first heavy rainfall since opening. The business temporarily lost power and as of midday Thursday didn’t have air conditioning.
“We’re still trying to figure this out,” said Luis Cardenas, whose son owns the restaurant. He added that neighboring businesses told him that flooding was common along the street.
Cardenas said the restaurant’s fridges were not affected, meaning they were able to continue serving food throughout the day, albeit a little later than planned.
Sabor Hidalguense staff left the restaurant entrances open and ran large fans throughout the morning in an attempt to quell humidity prompted by the rainfall and malfunctioning cooling system.
Fruitopia on Central Avenue, which serves ice cream, tacos and various sweet treats, often sees flooding during times of heavy rainfall, staff members said. The business’s main entrance sits at the bottom of a slight hill that runs along Seventh.
By mid-morning Thursday, the shop’s main entrance still had a few puddles that hadn’t quite dried up after attempts to sweep the water out. Nonetheless, business hadn’t been largely affected.
Staff members told The Star that water had seeped under the shop’s front doors a few times previously.
Just north of Fruitopia, autobody shop Tires and Rims did see notable water damage in its main lobby. Water seeped through its ceiling and into the business’s office, and employees left a bucket out to catch residual leakage.
Staff said despite the property damage, they were still able to carry on with their work in the shop and that they opened at the same time as usual.
Ruben Martinez, owner of taco shop Camino Real, said their downtown location was not affected by flooding but that their second location on Argentine Boulevard did have water creep into its main entrance.
“Nada mas que la entrada,” Martinez said, meaning the flooding was isolated to the front of the restaurant. He added that staff at the second location swept out the water and washed the floors before opening and starting the day as usual.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 3:12 PM.
