Kelly Creek in downtown Monett has been flooding since about 1907, with at least 40 documented floods. The 1927 flood rose so quickly that waitresses at the Frisco Hotel stood on tables until firefighters rescued them. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, the Work Progress Administration spent approximately $60,000 on flood relief for Kelly Creek. In 1948, a proposal was discussed to divert Kelly Creek around Monett, but it never happened. Floods struck again in 1981, 1990, and 1993, and some city leaders discussed building dams to prevent floods in the 1990s. In the 2000s, some improvements were made to the storm sewers in downtown. Another flood occurred in March 2008, and one person drowned. The 2009 flood caused an estimated $12 million in damage, the highest estimated flood damage so far. Because three-and-a-half inches of continuous rainfall can trigger a Monett flood, many proposals have failed to stop the flooding.