Drenching storm forces evacuations
Up to 7 inches of rain dumped on parts of Missouri.
— Tropical Depression ST. LOUIS Bill dumped up to 7 inches of rain on the O zarks in southern M issouri overnight, causing flash floods that forced the evacuation of some towns and campgrounds and increasing the risk of major flooding along several rivers.
The system that came ashore Tuesday along the Texas Gulf Coast, slowly made its way north into northern Arkansas and southern M issouri on Friday. The timing was unfortunate: The region has been swamped by heavy rain for several days, and Bill only made things worse.
“We had some ridiculous rainfall totals,” said M ike Griffin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Springfield, M issouri.
How much? Some areas near Springfield received 5 inches to 7 inches of rain between sunset Thursday and sunrise Friday — and it continued to come down. Parts of O klahoma, Arkansas, M issouri, Illinois and Indiana got up to 4 inches of rain.
And the downpours were set to continue. As the storm pushes eastward, “it’s slowly weakening and losing its punch. But it’s still going to cause a lot of rain,” Griffin said.
Flash floods were common. In Steelville, M issouri, a mobile home park was evacuated along the normally docile Yadkin Creek. Crawford County emergency management coordinator Lesa M izell said the creek is usually about 1 foot deep. At 5 a.m. Friday, “it looked like a roaring river,” she said.
In nearby Laclede County, several popular campgrounds along the Gasconade River were evacuated as the waterway quickly rose. Emergency coordinator Randy Rowe said one driver had to be rescued when a flash flood swept his car off the road.
Flood waters lapped at the Cuivre River bridge near Troy, M issouri, 50 miles north of St. Louis, by midday Friday, forcing the temporary closure of U.S. 61.
Hours earlier, firefighters rescued three people trapped in a home alongside the flooding river, and saved three others from vehicles submerged in flood waters.
Record flooding was forecast along the James River near Springfield. The river was at 5 feet Thursday evening — and 22.2 feet Friday afternoon, two-tenths of a foot above the previous high-water mark set in 1909.