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Recent rains renew flood fears
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ST. LOUIS (AP) - A multistate agency coordination center has been activated in Sikeston as fears of flooding mount in southern Missouri from another round of rain that ended Friday, the state Emergency Management Agency said.
Gov. Matt Blunt established the center late Thursday night to expedite communication and assistance between state agencies and local governments, SEMA spokeswoman Susie Stonner said.
“Sikeston is the staging area where we can send assets quickly if local communities need help fast,” she said. “There will be flooding in the area.”
In Butler County, authorities were keeping close watch on a makeshift earthen levee with a temporary structure on top. It replaced a levee that failed two weeks ago because of heavy rain and high water.
Authorities there are expecting the Black River southeast of Poplar Bluff to crest well above flood stage at 1 a.m. Saturday, and to stay at that level for 12 hours before dropping. Poplar Bluff received 3.6 inches of rain Thursday into Friday.
“Nobody knows how well it will hold,” Emergency Management Director Rick Sliger said. “That's a lot of pressure on ground that hasn't been compacted. That's our concern.”
The levee protects the rural communities of Broseley and Qulin in southeast Butler County.
Sliger said those residents “who were affected by high waters in the previous event, should be on alert and vigilant during the night for the possibility of increasing high water.”
Sliger said resources including U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and Missouri Water Patrol boats are in place in the event of flooding.
The Poplar Bluff fire department on Friday rescued 10 children on a school bus that attempted to drive through high water.
Authorities haven't determined if there are any injuries in the state related to the recent flooding. But New Madrid County reported the discovery Friday of a dead man in a ditch holding 18 inches of water at a Morehouse residence.
The water was from recent rains including those Thursday into Friday.
“He appears to have been intoxicated and too drunk to swim,” Sheriff Terry Stevens said.
Two Coast Guard disaster assistance response teams, along with rescue helicopters and flat-bottom boats, arrived Friday in Sikeston. They were among the agencies called by SEMA to be on hand in case they're needed to respond to flooding.
Stonner said SEMA has received requests for sandbags in anticipation of flooding south of Cape Girardeau, where 3.94 inches of rain fell Thursday night and Friday morning. That's on top of the record 17.8 inches it received in March. St. Louis recorded an all-time high rainfall in March of 8.39 inches.
The Missouri Bootheel got only half of the 5 to 6 inches it was forecast to receive. But the Mississippi River in that part of the state hasn't yet seen the effects of this week's rain, National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Scotten said.
“It's a slow-response river, the second-largest in the world,” he said. “With so much water to begin with, it takes a while to make it respond.”
Most of the state will be dry over the weekend with the next chance of rain on Tuesday. A wet pattern is expected to continue through April 11.
In Pemiscot County in far southeast Missouri, strong winds blew off part of a school roof and shoved an 18-wheeler out of the southbound lanes into the median early Friday. Emergency officials do not believe it was a tornado.
Along the Meramec River southwest of St. Louis, the town of Valley Park could see some moderate flooding. The river was cresting Friday at 21.9 feet but that's less than the nearly 38 feet reached on March 22.
Gov. Matt Blunt established the center late Thursday night to expedite communication and assistance between state agencies and local governments, SEMA spokeswoman Susie Stonner said.
“Sikeston is the staging area where we can send assets quickly if local communities need help fast,” she said. “There will be flooding in the area.”
In Butler County, authorities were keeping close watch on a makeshift earthen levee with a temporary structure on top. It replaced a levee that failed two weeks ago because of heavy rain and high water.
Authorities there are expecting the Black River southeast of Poplar Bluff to crest well above flood stage at 1 a.m. Saturday, and to stay at that level for 12 hours before dropping. Poplar Bluff received 3.6 inches of rain Thursday into Friday.
“Nobody knows how well it will hold,” Emergency Management Director Rick Sliger said. “That's a lot of pressure on ground that hasn't been compacted. That's our concern.”
The levee protects the rural communities of Broseley and Qulin in southeast Butler County.
Sliger said those residents “who were affected by high waters in the previous event, should be on alert and vigilant during the night for the possibility of increasing high water.”
Sliger said resources including U.S. Coast Guard helicopters and Missouri Water Patrol boats are in place in the event of flooding.
The Poplar Bluff fire department on Friday rescued 10 children on a school bus that attempted to drive through high water.
Authorities haven't determined if there are any injuries in the state related to the recent flooding. But New Madrid County reported the discovery Friday of a dead man in a ditch holding 18 inches of water at a Morehouse residence.
The water was from recent rains including those Thursday into Friday.
“He appears to have been intoxicated and too drunk to swim,” Sheriff Terry Stevens said.
Two Coast Guard disaster assistance response teams, along with rescue helicopters and flat-bottom boats, arrived Friday in Sikeston. They were among the agencies called by SEMA to be on hand in case they're needed to respond to flooding.
Stonner said SEMA has received requests for sandbags in anticipation of flooding south of Cape Girardeau, where 3.94 inches of rain fell Thursday night and Friday morning. That's on top of the record 17.8 inches it received in March. St. Louis recorded an all-time high rainfall in March of 8.39 inches.
The Missouri Bootheel got only half of the 5 to 6 inches it was forecast to receive. But the Mississippi River in that part of the state hasn't yet seen the effects of this week's rain, National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Scotten said.
“It's a slow-response river, the second-largest in the world,” he said. “With so much water to begin with, it takes a while to make it respond.”
Most of the state will be dry over the weekend with the next chance of rain on Tuesday. A wet pattern is expected to continue through April 11.
In Pemiscot County in far southeast Missouri, strong winds blew off part of a school roof and shoved an 18-wheeler out of the southbound lanes into the median early Friday. Emergency officials do not believe it was a tornado.
Along the Meramec River southwest of St. Louis, the town of Valley Park could see some moderate flooding. The river was cresting Friday at 21.9 feet but that's less than the nearly 38 feet reached on March 22.
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