As those of us in southwest Kansas bemoan the hot, dry conditions taking a toll on crops, folks east of here face weather-related pain on a whole different level.

Flooding continues to ravage parts of the Midwest, with at least eight people killed and tens of thousands evacuated in a weather disaster topping the Flood of 1993, which then was considered a 500-year flood.

Closer to home, tiny Chapman, Kan., is struggling to recover from a recent tornado that wiped out half the town. Officials said one person died, 100 homes were destroyed or heavily damaged, and 80 percent of the town had at least minor damage.

Recent tornadoes also caused some $20 million in damage at Kansas State University in Manhattan, and killed one person in the tiny Kansas town of Soldier.

Those tragedies are among the latest in a year that, while not even halfway done, already is the deadliest for tornadoes since 1998 in the nation, and is on track to break the U.S. record for twisters for a year -- 1,817 in 2004.

Even more disconcerting is that this year's storms seem more powerful than ever.

It's necessary to note that the Chapman disaster, and before it another twister in Parkersburg, Iowa, that killed four people and destroyed nearly 300 homes in the town of 1,000, didn't rate nearly the attention of the killer tornado a year ago that leveled Greensburg.

That would suggest many of us are taking dangerous weather more in stride, which is unsettling.

We're blessed with sophisticated advanced weather warning systems, yet many people still are determined to ride out severe weather, and place themselves and others who'd have to rescue them in peril. That goes for tornadoes, flooding and other dangerous weather.

Weather-related deaths of late should be a sobering reminder of the need to not only take weather warnings seriously, but also to listen more closely to the American Red Cross and other emergency preparedness experts when they stress ways to be ready -- just in case.

Considering how things are going, we're all more likely than ever to face dangerous, life-threatening weather. And it's not as if we haven't been warned.