Rescue teams airlifted more than 200 people from a children’s camp Friday after 6 to 12 inches of rain drenched southeastern Missouri, flooding the region and making every road into the area impassable.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe said the Missouri National Guard deployed eight Black Hawk helicopters to evacuate 202 campers and counselors from Camp Taum Sauk in Lesterville, located in Reynolds County.
Kehoe praised the state’s emergency crews for their courage, professionalism and compassion, saying they rescued hundreds of Missourians from life-threatening floodwaters. With recovery operations still underway and more rain in the forecast, he urged residents in low-lying and flood-prone communities to monitor weather conditions closely, rely on multiple alert systems and be prepared to take safety measures quickly.
The severe flooding spread across multiple counties in southeastern Missouri, including Crawford, Iron, Madison, Reynolds and Wayne. Kehoe said some areas experienced rainfall levels considered a 1-in-1,000-year event.
At the same time, campers at Bearcat Getaway campground near the Black River, roughly 85 miles south of St. Louis, had climbed onto a building to escape the surging water before the structure collapsed, according to Sgt. Eddie Young of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Young said the building failed under the combined pressure of the people on top of it and the relentless floodwater rushing beneath it.
Young also said three people who became stranded in trees along the Black River in Reynolds County were rescued Friday evening.
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 said. The county is about 71 miles southwest of St. Louis.
The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for the area, which got between 6 and 12 inches of rain as thunderstorms piled on one after another, said Matt Beitscher, a lead meteorologist with the NWS office in St. Louis.
“It’s very, very popular place for recreation,” Beitscher 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.”
Several major roads were impassable due to flooding and damage, Kehoe said, warning 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.
