By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

GOVE -- With rainfall amounts of 10 inches or more, crop losses and damage to roads in Gove County are expected to be extensive.

Heavy rainfall, accompanied by strong winds and hail, sometimes covering the ground, washed out fields and roads, according to Gove County farmer and commissioner Delmar Kaiser.

Kaiser had an even 5 inches of rain at his farm north of the city of Gove.

A mile away, motorists who drove into rushing water had to be rescued from their vehicles.

It's not that they drove into the water intentionally, Kaiser said. They were blinded by the heavy rains and couldn't see the water.

Flood warnings remained in effect this morning in Gove County, and many roads still were covered with water.

The largest rainfall report received by George "Pappy" Lies was 10.6 inches, falling about 4 miles south of Grainfield. Lies is the emergency services director for Gove and Logan counties.

There apparently were several reports of rainfall amounting to 9 to 10 inches.

The heavy rain caused considerable flooding, closing Old U.S. Highway 40 between Grainfield and Park. Castle Rock road leading south out of Quinter was closed about 4 miles south of that community, Lies said.

The heavy rains, Kaiser said, generally followed Big Creek and were heaviest south of Grainfield, Park and Quinter. That water ultimately will flow down to Hays.

"We had major flooding," he said of conditions near his residence. "Probably as high as I've seen it."

The water, he said, was quick to rise and just as quick to recede.

Kaiser said his son, who lives northeast of him, had to drive through a pasture to take his children to school this morning.

A crop insurance agent this morning told Kaiser there likely will be bad crop losses as a result of the heavy rains and hail.

Many fields of just-planted wheat have been destroyed, the topsoil holding the seeds essentially washed away.

"It's just major, major losses for agriculture out here," he said.

Outside of the heavy rain zone, the outlook was considerably better.

There, farmer Don Zerr's hopes for a good wheat crop were buoyed.

For nine years, he has struggled with drought to raise decent crops.

Overnight, he received 2.2 inches of rain, and plenty of hail.

"The ground was completely white with hail," Zerr said of conditions at his farm west of the city of Gove.

Even with 2.2 inches in his gauge, Zerr said conditions have been so dry that only a small puddle of water remained in a field south of his residence.

"And I'm going to guess it will be gone by noon," he said this morning.

For him, it's a rain that was desperately needed, with dry conditions persisting for so long now.

Many farmers were concerned conditions were so dry that wheat planted this fall wouldn't even have enough moisture to germinate.

"With 2.2 inches, this will be the first time in nine years that I can plant my wheat in moisture," Zerr said.