More KC-area homes risk floods as storms get worse, pipes age. Many aren’t ready
Tamika Pledger never considered putting aside thousands in emergency cash for a rainy day.
Until recently, she didn’t think she had a reason to. Her home insurance would help cover costs if a tornado ever damaged her home. And in Kansas City, Kansas, she doesn’t need to worry about natural disasters like hurricanes or wildfires.
But on an evening back in July, inordinate rainfall led to unrelenting floodwaters ravaging the lower level of Pledger’s home.
Fish and debris washed in. Mud caked the walls and floors on the home’s bottom level. As water pooled in, her son, Tajuan Pledger’s, bed floated off the ground, she said. The downstairs fridge, that they had just stocked in anticipation of weekend visitors, fell over.
Family photos, memorabilia, favorite clothes, were all gone.
“We lost a lot of photos from childhood, birth certificates and things of that nature, “ she said. “Things you can’t get back.”
And although hodgepodge help from her work, church, the American Red Cross and an online fundraiser have helped her start picking up the pieces, Pledger expects to spend more than $1,500 out of pocket to get her home back to what it once was. Her repairs are on track to cost at least $8,000 overall, she said.
Pledger, who doesn’t live directly adjacent to a major river, said flood preparation wasn’t exactly top of mind until it was too late. It hadn’t occurred to her to look into something like flood insurance.
And she definitely didn’t know that living in KCK meant she could get it at a discount.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK is among more than 22,000 communities nationwide that participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood insurance program — and among 1,500 where homeowners can get that insurance at a discount.
This deal includes people living outside of floodplains who hadn’t previously been considered at high risk of floods. Now, with the effects of stronger storms and aging infrastructure, the government considers that more homes have a higher potential of flooding.
“Without suitable mitigation, climate change will continue to increase flood risk and associated damages for vulnerable populations,” according to a 2022 report from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Develop National Program on how local decisions and the environment affect the likelihood of urban flooding in KCK.
But even though people qualify for federal flood insurance, the number of people who access it is still low.
Despite the fact that roughly 98% of U.S. counties have come into contact with flooding, less than 4% of the country’s households have a policy offered by the National Flood Insurance Program, a FEMA spokesperson told The Star.
Tapping into that already available resource could make a major difference to people who live in parts of KCK that are growing accustomed to their basements flooding when it rains more than a few inches but who can’t afford continual cleanup and repairs.
Flooding’s a problem here
The Kansas City metro has a record of historical floods, and Wyandotte County businesses and residents — particularly those in the immediate floodplain, such as the Argentine, Armourdale and Turner neighborhoods — have long been plagued by the property damage they bring. Notable 1993 and 1951 floods reshaped local rivers, neighborhoods and water-control infrastructure along the Missouri and Kaw.
And although severe natural disasters bring federal relief dollars to areas in their aftermaths, not every major storm that causes flooding qualifies for direct aid from FEMA. This means people affected by damaging, although not entirely devastating, floods often have to rely on insurance, area nonprofits, in-kind donations and their own checkbooks.
In 2025 alone, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and KCK received more than 100 calls, claims and reports that local homes and businesses experienced flooding, according to a government spokesperson. American Red Cross of Greater Kansas City and Northwest Missouri, which offers emergency assistance, said 55 households reported being affected by KCK flooding in 2025. Of those, 20 needed more intensive assistance, like financial relief or a temporary place to stay.
After this year’s July 17 storm, during which between 7 and 11 inches of rain fell over Wyandotte County, public works staff found blockages in the roads, areas that were washed out, at least 40 downed trees and erosion throughout the area. The Unified Government shortly afterward told press it doubted area damages would qualify for immediate federal disaster relief.
This meant people who didn’t already have flood insurance — which takes about 30 days after enrolling to take effect — had to seek out help elsewhere.
“Having protection against flooding events linked to heavy rain and severe weather as well as extreme events like levees overtopping and dam failures, is crucial,” according to the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s website. “ …Most homeowners aren’t aware that just a few inches of water from a flood can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage.”
The average claim for an NFIP flood insurance policy was $3,500 in June 2025, according to the agriculture department.
Existing infrastructure matters
Dated stormwater drainage systems in urban areas like KCK weren’t built to handle how much the city has grown over time, let alone the runoff from stronger storms and rapid rainfall.
And although the Unified Government has said its stormwater pumps are operating as intended, they haven’t recently been able to process particularly high volumes of water coming in such a short amount of time, staff told The Star.
Jeff Miles, the environmental services director at the Unified Government, said in May that cleaning trash out of area drains and grates, as well as the completion of the storm/sewer system separation, would open up the capacities for area stormwater lines.
“Many stormwater drainage systems are decades old and may not be well maintained,” a FEMA spokesperson said of urban flooding. “Trash and leaves that accumulate in gutters, storm drains, and catch basins can block the flow of runoff, which sometimes prevents the water from draining quickly.”
One infrastructure project to reduce Wyandotte’s flood risk includes work on area levees in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and local drainage districts.
The Unified Government also has a court order with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stipulating it will separate its sewage and stormwater lines. This would prevent combined sewer overflows, which is when sewage floods area stormwater lines and deposits into local waterbodies. Making this change would allow area lines to process more stormwater.
OK, so how does this work?
Most standard homeowner’s insurance policies, including the Plegders’, don’t automatically include flood insurance for natural events.
It’s typically something people have to buy in addition, either privately or through NFIP, if they want to be covered after the kinds of floods Wyandotte saw this summer.
The Unified Government qualifies for a 20% discount on flood insurance through the NFIP for Wyandotte homeowners because it’s part of a federal program for local governments that pledge to improve their infrastructure to be able to better weather future storms. It joined the program in 2012, according to Unified Government documents.
The Unified Government itself doesn’t handle flood insurance, a spokesperson told The Star. Rather, it encourages property owners to contact NFIP or their local insurer.
Since 1980, NFIP has paid out 322 claims totaling about $9.9 million in aid for Wyandotte County floods. In the past decade, the NFIP has paid out 10 claims totaling $250,000.
The local government’s participation in the program was projected to save residents a combined $125,000 between 2023 and 2028, according to Unified Government Planning and Urban Development documents from 2023.
What’s covered, and where?
Flood insurance can help cover costs associated with rebuilding after flood damage. People can also get coverage for other physical losses, like possessions lost in flood wreckage.
Anyone living in a community that participates in NFIP qualifies for federal flood insurance, but people can also buy it privately.
A handful of communities in the metro also qualify for federal flood insurance and can get it at a discounted rate, including Independence, Lenexa, Olathe, Blue Springs and Kansas City, Missouri.
Flooding risk isn’t limited to people living in at-risk areas identified on local flood maps.
“Flooding is the most common, most destructive, and most costly disaster across the nation; however, its risk is underappreciated across the nation — even in flood-prone areas,” according to a FEMA spokesperson.
About 40% of NFIP flood claims occur outside of mapped floodplains, the spokesperson said.
“Finally, it’s important to remember there is no such thing as a ‘no-risk’ flood zone.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2025 at 5:53 AM.
