(MANHATTAN, KS, September 5, 2018) The American Red Cross is expecting 30 displaced residents to stay at the Pottorf Hall emergency shelter overnight. The second shelter location, at St. Thomas Moore church, has been closed and people were transferred to Pottorf Hall this afternoon. Anyone who needs shelter for the night should go to Pottorf Hall, located at 1710 Avery, in CiCo Park.

ATA bus will distribute bus passes at the Pottorf Hall shelter tomorrow morning so those without access to transportation can travel around town.

A Multi Agency Resource Center (MARC) will be established on Friday, September 7 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at St. Thomas Moore Church, located at 2900 Kimball Avenue. This will be a one-stop-shop offering assistance to for people who need to replace documents, access health care and mental health care, talk with the Riley County Health Department, connect with available resources, and talk to representatives from area social service agencies. Any agencies that wish to participate need to contact Sarah Wickman with the American Red Cross at sarah.wickham@redcross.org to RSVP. Residents in need of assistance do not need to RSVP.

The City Manager’s Office is coordinating volunteer efforts to assist people affected by the flood. Storage facilities in particular are needed to house undamaged belongings during cleanup. People who wish to volunteer, those who have storage space to offer, and those in need of assistance can call the City Manager’s Office at (785) 587-2404 during regular business hours.

Donations of goods and furniture are not being accepted at this time. People who wish to help can donate to the 2018 Manhattan Flood Recovery Fund established by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation at http://www.mcfks.org/flood. Representatives from the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation will also be present at the MARC event on Friday.

Some area homes and businesses are still without power in locations where it is unsafe for electricity. If you think you should have power, first check your breakers as they may have been tripped during the flood event. A map of outages is available through the Westar website at http://outagemap.westarenergy.com/external/default.html.

Businesses affected by flooding need to be cleared by City Code Officers and the Riley County Health Department before opening. Any businesses in violation will be contacted and closed until conditions are safe to reopen.

The Riley County Police Department will continue to patrol affected areas.

Public Works staff is assessing damage to infrastructure and Code Officers continue to assess property damage. All roads are open and passable at this time except for Poliska lane which should be repaired next week.