Sorority girls screaming, people roaming the flooding streets and students frantically working without Internet to complete last minute homework defined Sunday night as thunderstorms knocked out power for entire blocks around Manhattan.
Around Anderson Avenue and Denison Avenue, several houses were left in the dark due to the storms that rolled in around 9:30 p.m. Several Manhattan streets were flooded as a result as well.
One of the most trafficked streets, Manhattan Avenue, was among the several streets that dealt with flooding in the middle of the night. Others included Colorado Street, Denison Avenue, Humboldt Street – on the east side of Manhattan City Park – Leavenworth Street and College Heights Road.
The Riley County Police Department are warning those in the community via Twitter that the public needs to be extra cautious when driving on the roads.
“With all the rain, we want to remind you not to drive through standing or running water,” said the RCPD tweet. “Let it pass, find an alternate route.”
However, the flooding and thunderstorms didn’t stop students from trying to get their homework finished. Madison Shelley, sophomore in marketing, said she was finding every alternative way possible to get stuff done on time.
“I am sitting on my staircase using the flooding lights and phone light trying to get my assignments done that are due in less than 9 hours,” Shelley said. “I am stressed to say the least.”
With power outages and flooding in a city full of students, it was obvious that some would wander out for a little bit of fun. Some people were found streaking down Laramie Street, while others were dancing in the rain. And there were even more unusual occurrences. Courtney Gellhaus, sophomore in animal science and industry, tweeted that she saw some interesting things when her street got blocked off.
“Only in a college town will people go swimming when the street gets flooded and blocked off,” Gellhaus said in her tweet.
Shelley also said that living in her sorority house of Delta Delta Delta during the power outage made for a night full of fun.
“We were all sliding down the stairs in whatever plastic and mattresses we could find, and running through the house with flash lights scaring each other,” she said.
Although the thunderstorm and flooding continued on, Westar Energy managed to get the power back on after two hours without light, just in time for students to get their last minute assignments in and be ready for their morning classes.
