REYNOLDS COUNTY, Mo. — One person remains missing in Missouri after heavy rainfall battered parts of the state Friday, forcing numerous emergency rescues and evacuations, including at a summer camp with more than 200 children.
Several other states also face the potential for severe thunderstorms and flash-flood warnings on Saturday as the slow-moving storms move southward.
The National Weather Service said the severe weather affects a wide region stretching from the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri eastward into much of the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys.
The service said the storms could bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall and scattered flash flooding to the multistate region, extending into Sunday in some places.
Missouri’s Emergency Management Agency warned that while the storms are moving south and out of the state, additional thunderstorms could still bring more flash flooding, especially in areas that have already received 6 and 12 inches of rain.
Summer campers rescued
Friday’s drenching rains washed away roads around Camp Taum Sauk, trapping children and staffers at the site in the small southeastern community of Lesterville, according to Sgt. Eddie Young, with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Army National Guard used Black Hawk helicopters to fly them to a nearby elementary school and reunite them with their families, he said.
The camp thanked emergency crews late Friday in a post on Instagram, saying, “We are beyond thankful for your help keeping our camp community safe.”
Meanwhile, the campers at the Bearcat Getaway campground near the Black River, about 85 miles south of St. Louis, had climbed onto a building to get away from the raging waters when it collapsed, Young said.
“Between the weight and the constant waters underneath it, it just gave away on them,” he said.
Three other people were trapped on trees on the Black River in Reynolds County and were rescued Friday evening, Young said.
Woman remains missing
There have been no reports of major injuries or fatalities, but a woman in Crawford County was missing after a house she was in was swept from its foundation by the flooding.
Young confirmed Saturday that the woman, Faith Gregory, remains the only person still unaccounted for in the county, which is about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis.
Family and friends said on social media they had resumed their search and urged others to look out for Gregory and her dogs, who they say were also swept away.
The weather service had issued flash-flood warnings for the area as thunderstorms piled up one after another.
“It’s a very, very popular place for recreation,” Matt Beitscher, a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in St. Louis, said of the affected counties. “So there are campgrounds there. There are float trip locations there. A lot of vulnerable populations that would be susceptible to flash flooding.”
Recovery efforts underway
Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a state of emergency and activated one of the state’s search and rescue teams to assist. He said late Friday that hundreds of people had been saved from floodwaters, trees, rooftops and stranded vehicles.
Several major roads were impassable due to flooding and damage, Kehoe said, warning that the Black River continues to rise and is expected to crest at more than 28 feet near Annapolis in southeastern Missouri, which would be a record for the waterway.
“As recovery efforts continue and additional rain is expected, I urge everyone in flood-prone and low-lying areas to stay weather-aware, have multiple ways of receiving alerts, and be ready to take protective action,” Kehoe said in a statement.
In Reynolds County, two rescue boats capsized in the flooding, but other emergency personnel safely recovered the responders, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Golden and Hall write for the Associated Press. AP writer Philip Marcelo in East Meadow, N.Y., contributed to this report.
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