At least five people, including two poll workers, died in floods across Missouri this week, prompting Gov. Mike Parson to activate an emergency operations plan.
Intense storms brought six to 10 inches of rainfall, flash flooding and two small tornadoes in parts of Missouri, starting on Sunday and continuing through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The governor said in a statement on Tuesday evening that the storm had caused damage across the state and that the emergency action plan would ensure that state officials could respond if “further disruptions or damage occur” and help with recovery efforts.
On Tuesday morning, two poll workers died after their vehicle was swept off State Route H near Manes, Mo., by floodwaters that had inundated parts the state, the Wright County Clerk’s Office said in a statement. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the two victims, whose names were not released, were a 70-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman.
Loni Pederson, the Wright County clerk, said in a statement that the two were a couple “who donated their time to serve their community.”
Floodwaters were also believed to have caused two deaths in St. Louis County on Tuesday, according to the police.
In one case, a woman was found dead in her S.U.V. as floodwaters began to recede. The woman had driven her car into the water during the height of the flood on Tuesday morning, the St. Louis County police said in a news release, noting that they were still investigating the episode.
Later in the afternoon, the police found a man dead in a creek in the St. Louis area. The authorities said they believed that he had drowned but were waiting an autopsy.
A 66-year-old man died on Monday after he attempted to drive across a flooded bridge and drowned, according to a report by the State Highway Patrol. His car was swept off the bridge and floated about a half mile down a stream before it came to rest.
The State Highway Patrol said that it had also received reports of two vehicles that had been swept off roads in Wright County early Tuesday. The people in those vehicles were able to swim to safety, the authorities said.
Flooding in some parts of Missouri had prevented voters from reaching polling places, the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office said. Governor Parson said on social media that voters in St. Louis City or St. Louis County who could not reach their polling places could vote at any polling location within the city or the county.
Emergency operations in St. Louis will continue through Saturday morning as storm conditions and flooding are expected through the end of the week, an emergency operations official said on Tuesday evening.
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