A corn field southwest of Wichita was destroyed by flood waters. "I've seen flood this high or higher," said landowner Roger Lemon near his field outside Viola. "Maybe four or five times during my lifetime but not with this particular type of damage." Lemon says that it rained between 12 and 13 inches during the storms which caused the flooding on Sept. 8 and 9. He says that Highway 42, which dissects his field, creates a dam between the storm run off and the Ninnescah River. "It just totally flattened the corn for quite a little area," Lemon said after floodwater poured from a nearby culvert flooding his field. Some of the corn was snapped in half, other parts were submerged in water. "We were just one week away from harvesting that crop," said farmer Tom Pauly. Pauly farms the ground Lemon owns; the pair share expenses and profits the land makes. "There was quite a bit of damage along the river where the water actually covered the crops," Pauly said. Any of the corn that was underwater but still standing had damage. Pauly found that some of the corn seeds were starting to sprout on the cob and many of the ears of corn were covered in fine dirt and mold. In addition to the corn being damaged, it might not be worth cutting. The fine dirt left by flood waters is abrasive on the machinery that harvests the corn and there is a high risk the floods left debris in the field that if ingested into a combine, would cause damage. "Its going to be hard on the combine ...there are going to be a lot of machines damaged by debris the flood waters deposited," Pauly said. Pauly has insurance on his portion of the field. Lemon is going to be out the damage because he did not have insurance. "We are not insured. I am guessing it is between a 22,000 and 25,000 dollar loss," Lemon said. Source - http://www.kake.com