Monett Floods

Monett Floods. . , Kelly Creek in downtown Monett has been flooding since about 1907 and there have been at least 40 floods that have been documented. The 1927 flood arose so quickly that waitresses at the Frisco Hotel stood on tables until firefighters came along to rescue them. During the Great Depression in the 1930s the Work Progress Administration spent approximately $60,000 on flood relief for Kelly Creek. In 1948 there was a proposal discussed to divert Kelly Creek around Monett, which never happened. Floods struck again in 1981, 1990, and 1993. Some of the city leaders discussed building dams to prevent floods in the 1990s. In the 2000s some improvements were made to the storm sewers in downtown. In March 2008 another flood occurred but this time there was one death recorded from a person drowning. The 2009 flood caused an estimated $12 million in damage, which has been the highest estimated damage from a flood so far. Since three-and-a-half inches of continuous rainfall can trigger a Monett flood, despite many proposals, no solutions for stopping Monett floods have been successful. , Written by: Christian Vail and Jose Cecenas , This sign was created by students under the direction of Monett High School Missouri Literature and Composition teacher Amy M. Sampson and was paid for via a grant she wrote and was awarded from Rural Schools Collaborative and their 2023 Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellows Program.