Missouri Flash Flood Emergency Triggers Mass Rescue at Campground

A dangerous flash-flooding situation is unfolding in southeastern Missouri on Friday as heavy rain continues to come down across the nation's heartland.

Life-Threatening Flash Flood Emergency Developing in Missouri

First responders are racing to reach marooned campers caught up in a flash-flooding event early Friday. A cold front creeping along at a slow pace is dumping massive amounts of rain across the region. A Flash Flood Emergency was issued for portions of southeastern Missouri on Friday, as the National Weather Service (NWS) warned people in Iron and Reynolds counties to move to higher ground.

According to the Fenton Fire Protection District, rescue crews were launched to help about 40 stranded visitors at the Black River Lodge in Lesterville. Earlier in the morning, crews were able to pluck several people stranded at campsites located along the banks of the Black River. The early morning dispatch calls indicated that some of the campers had to climb trees to get out of the raging floodwaters.

Swiftwater rescue teams responded to the flooding situation at Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park in Reynolds County on Friday morning. Park officials confirmed that the rising waters have made many areas impassable.

The slow-moving frontal boundary has triggered at least 12.25 inches of rain across the southeastern corner of Missouri in the last 24 hours. The community of Annapolis is dealing with several flooded homes in addition to washed-out roads and bridges.

The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) out of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a Level 2 out of 4 flash flood threat for most of Missouri, central and southern Illinois, the central and southern portions of Indiana, central and southern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and the southwestern edge of Pennsylvania. There is a chance that this threat could be upgraded to a Level 3 later in the day.

Flood Threats Elsewhere

While the worst of the flooding is currently centered over southeastern Missouri, a more widespread flood threat is developing across a large swath of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Roughly 40 million Americans in the central U.S. will be under the threat of flooding this weekend.

The flash flood threats will persist into next week as the cold front moves to the south and the east. The latest forecast models are predicting 1 to 2 inches of new rain in a zone from southern and central Missouri eastward into West Virginia and northern Tennessee. Higher totals of 3 to 5 inches are possible in areas that see repeated storm activity.

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