Rain

By Ryan Johnson (WASHINGTON) Eight counties of Kansas are being designated as primary natural disaster areas. The counties are Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Elk, Greenwood, Labette, Montgomery, and Neosho. The declaration is due primarily to losses from prevented planting caused by frost, rain, flash flooding, and flooding that occurred from September 1, 2009 through January 6, 2010. Farmers in the counties of Allen, Chase, Cowley, Wilson, Bourbon, Coffey, Lyon, Woodson, and Butler also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.

Kansas weather is known to be, well, unpredictable, if not downright weird. We had quite an example Wednesday afternoon. At 2pm,  the official temperature at Mid-Continent Airport was 82 degrees. At the same time, accross town at Jabara Airport, it was 71 degrees with heavy rain. That's quite a difference for just a few miles. It also shows how hard it can be to predict weather over the hundreds of miles of Kansas. Roger

by Dave Roberts (WICHITA, Kan.) More than a hundred high school and college kids volunteer time during their summer vacation to paint houses in Wichita. It's part of a program called Work Camp Wichita, which is sponsored by the Church of Christ. The teens volunteered to paint seven houses. They worked through the rain, scraping off old paint and applying a brand new coat. Along with painting houses, the volunteers are also cleaning up the area's graffiti. Homeowners applied to the Church of Christ to get the volunteers to paint their homes.

NASCAR president Mike Helton says the Daytona 500 will now start Monday night at 6 p.m Central. On Sunday, rains caused the Great American raced to be postponed for the first time in the history of the Daytona 500, it has been postponed until Monday. Rain soaked Daytona Beach for most of the day on Sunday and despite NASCAR's best try to dry the track, the rain just wouldn't let up. Estimates were that it might take up to four more hours to dry the track and NASCAR decided that it would just be too late to start the race then.

  High water closes roads, covers fields, and floods basements in Reno County. The town of Haven got six inches of rain since Saturday. On Second Street, the Unruh house got the worst of it. "It was like a dam breaking," said Steve Unruh. The water that rushed into his basement is pumped out and wrung out of blankets and stuffed animals. Not even things stored in plastic tubs were safe. "The water sounded like you were at the waterfalls," said Jeanne Unruh.

By Alana Rocha (PARTRIDGE, Kan.) An historic landmark important to the people of Partridge is gone. And those who live in the Reno County town didn't waste anytime coming to help their neighbor. It's a symbol of the Amish heritage and an example of how they live. "We'd all rather be helping. Than needing to be helped," Joe Yoder said. Yoder stood in his home near Partridge Monday night listening to the rain pour down. It was the winds that worried him. "The rain was so heavy.

No one will argue, we need the rain that fell early Friday morning.  But every time there's a down pour, residents in one north east Wichita neighborhood worry about flooding.  They live along the Chisholm Creek near 25th street between Oliver and Hillside.  The flooding issues started a few years back because of new development and with more construction planned, neighbors have gone to the city for help. Friday morning the Chisholm Creek moved faster than it has in a long time.  "I thought oh my god, if we get five or six inches of rain we're in trouble," said neighborhood association president James Roseboro.  The creek didn't rise enough to flood this time, but it's a the chance residents are tired of taking.  "Something has to be done to protect these homes," he said.

If your lawn looks more like a jungle right now, you're not alone. Lawn and garden services tell us they are really behind because of the warm spring and rain we've had. While their busy season usually starts in April, many have been on the job since mid-March. They still can't stay ahead of the weather. That causes problems with scheduling, and more. Scott Manners of Lawn Appeal tells us, "We're also concerned with starting to do more landscape jobs. We get some hard freezes and we're going to run into problems putting new nice flowers in for our clients....we'll get a freeze in there and that's not going to help the flowers whatsoever.

Devin Hansen owner of Sunflower Travel tells Eyewitness news all-inclusive resorts can be expensive. But Hansen found ten affordable beach front all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America starting at $100 per person, per night. These are the resorts he recommends. First, Majestic Colonial, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic at $150 per person, per night. This 658-room resort in Punta Cana gives you a lot of choice for how to spend your evening: there are eight restaurants, plus nine bars including a piano bar and a sports bar. Not that there aren't choices during the day as well: The main pool is more than 1,300 feet long and catamarans and windsurfers are available on the beach.

More official than ever, the Air Capital Classic is ready to roll in Wichita. The name change over that happened in the Spring was on full display today at Crestview Country Club for the beginning of the tournament. Tournament Director Roy Turner spearheaded the name change and while the city's name is gone, Turner believes this is a turn for the better. "Instead of rebranding it as something, something Wichita Open we went with Air Capital Classic so that everyone in the nation knows where the Air Capital of the world is," Turner said.