Hundreds of people had to be rescued on Friday after torrential rain led to flash flooding in southeastern Missouri, officials said. Among those saved were at least 10 people who fell into the floodwaters after the building they were standing on collapsed.
Six to 12 inches of rain fell across the region in 24 hours, totals so uncommon that the National Weather Service called it a once-in-a-thousand-years rainfall event, meaning it has a 0.1 percent chance of happening in a 24-hour period in any given year.
Alex Elmore, a meteorologist with the Weather Service office in St. Charles, Mo., said that amount of rain was “extremely rare” for the area.
Flash-flood warnings were issued across the region, with some expected to continue until later Friday. A flood watch remained in effect through Saturday for parts of Missouri and Illinois. Gov. Mike Kehoe of Missouri declared a state of emergency.
“Over the past 24 hours, intense storms have created dangerous flash flooding across several regions of Missouri, resulting in multiple swift-water rescues,” the governor said in a statement.
Sheriff Chuck Helton of Iron County, one of the hardest-hit areas, said that about 100 people had been rescued there and in neighboring Reynolds County. Officials started receiving distress calls at 3 a.m., he said.
There were no reports of injuries or fatalities, Sheriff Helton said. But he said several homes had been destroyed and a few camper vehicles had washed away, adding that the county roads, most of which are gravel, were in “bad shape.”
“Everything’s saturated down here,” Sheriff Helton said.
The Weather Service, which used radar data to estimate rainfall totals, found that the highest amounts fell between the towns of Saint James and Coldwater.
Much of the flooding occurred along the Black River, which flows through that area, Sgt. Eddie Young of the Missouri Highway Patrol said in an interview. According to a gauge in the town of Annapolis, the river crested at 28.73 feet at 12:45 p.m., overtaking a record of 27.38 feet set on Nov. 14, 1993.
Many of the roughly 90 people rescued in Reynolds County were living or camping near the river, according to county officials. Among them were 10 to 17 campers staying at the Bearcat Getaway campground who had been standing on a building when it collapsed, pitching them into the water.
Five others who had been reported missing from the Bearcat campground between 7 and 8 a.m. were rescued unharmed on Friday afternoon, according to Steve Chitwood, a floodplain administer for the county.
Many roads remained closed or impassable because of high water, and a road collapsed just east of the Route N-Route 21 junction, Reynolds County officials said in statement.
In Crawford County, just north of Reynolds County, authorities were searching for a 23-year-old woman after rescuing three other people from floodwaters, according to Sergeant Young and the local sheriff’s office.
Sergeant Young said that most of those rescued had been staying in one of the many campgrounds near the Black River, some of which had been “cut off from civilization” by the floodwaters.
The rescue efforts continued into the night.
As of early Friday evening, a fleet of about nine Black Hawk helicopters were picking up 160 people who were safe from floodwaters but stranded at Camp Taum Sauk on the banks of the Black River, Sergeant Young said.
The heavy downpours started Thursday evening and continued into early Friday morning as clusters of thunderstorms repeatedly passed over the same area.
The storm activity had temporarily eased by Friday morning, but more rain was expected in the state. Through late Friday, storms are expected to bring an additional two to four inches of rain to southeastern Missouri, including in areas that received heavy rain overnight, with the risk of flash flooding likely to return.
A severe thunderstorm watch was also issued for portions of northern Missouri until 9 p.m., with winds of up to 70 miles per hour and possible hail.
“The additional rain could exacerbate conditions and lead to the worst of the impacts we’ve been seeing returning, with roadways flooded out,” Mr. Elmore, the meteorologist, said.
A few storms may bring more wet weather on Saturday, with drier weather likely on Sunday and into next week.
The post Hundreds Are Rescued After Heavy Rain in Missouri appeared first on New York Times.
