Historic rainfall deluges St. Louis area, prompts high-water rescues
A historic and life-threatening flash flooding event unfolded across the St. Louis metro area early Tuesday morning, leaving motorists stranded in feet of water and prompting significant disruptions to travel and daily routines.
St. Louis shattered its all-time rainfall record for any day as 8.70 inches had been observed through 8 a.m. CDT Tuesday, with most of this rain falling within a five-hour time frame. This broke the previous record set 107 years ago as the moisture from what was left of the Galveston Hurricane of 1915 pounded the city on Aug. 20 of that year.
Some rainfall amounts over a foot were reported elsewhere as downpours continued to plague the area.
Local officials urged people to avoid travel as high water clogged roadways throughout the region. Video footage showed floodwaters submerging portions of Interstate 70, forcing the closure of that highway in both directions ahead of the typically bustling morning commute. Closures were also reported on I-64, I-270 and U.S. Route 61.
The St. Louis Fire Department responded to approximately 18 homes that were experiencing substantial flooding with trapped occupants. Six people and six dogs were rescued via boat, with 15 other people choosing to shelter in place. Power outages had eclipsed 20,000 in the region as of 10 a.m. CDT Tuesday.
St. Louis resident Tony Nipert shared photos from the city's Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood, located northwest of downtown. Nipert told AccuWeather that he had never seen flooding like this in the four years he lived in the area. The nearby Forest Park DeBaliviere Metrolink train station was completely flooded, according to pictures he shared on Twitter.
"I woke up to let my dogs out this morning and could see the [train] tracks flooded like a river from my sunroom," he told AccuWeather. "This is not normal," he noted on his Twitter account.
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24-hour rainfall totals around St. Louis as of early Tuesday morning. Added rainfall was expected to send these totals higher throughout the day. |
Brittney Perry, a 32-year-old St. Louis resident, shared a video on Twitter showing her mother's flooded backyard in University City, a suburb just outside of St. Louis, with cars nearly completely submerged.
"Her backyard is a whole lake at this point, smh," Perry wrote on Twitter.
"The floodwaters were quick and sudden, like nothing I've ever experienced before in my life. The rain was literally non-stop pouring down for all hours of the night pouring into this morning," Perry told AccuWeather.
"It was extremely horrific watching our whole basement and garage flood, losing several sentimental items including an electric guitar from my late father," she added. Her father died earlier this year and, she said, his car is one of those "seen submerged in our backyard."
In nearby Saint Charles, Missouri, city officials said a pedestrian bridge collapsed due to erosion caused by the heavy rain.
At one point during the early morning hours of Tuesday, nearly 1 million people within the densely populated metro area were within a flash flooding emergency -- a National Weather Service alert withheld for only the most extreme flooding events.
Severe flooding also hit the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which remained operational as of 8 a.m. CDT Tuesday. Meanwhile, the city's iconic Gateway Arch closed Tuesday as a result of the record rainfall.
"The big point is that flash flooding doesn't end when the rain ends," AccuWeather Meteorologist Dean DeVore said.
The Dardenne Creek at St. Peters, a suburb of St. Louis, rose dramatically in the early morning hours of Tuesday. Waters rose 7.8 feet between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., local time, and nearly 9 inches within 5 minutes during that window, according to AccuWeather meteorologist and Senior Weather Editor Jesse Ferrell, who pointed to the flash flooding incident as an example of how quickly waters can rise in an excessive rainfall event like the one that unfolded in the St. Louis area.
AccuWeather meteorologists say that downpours will continue across the region into Tuesday afternoon, with additional rounds of intense rainfall expected to keep flash flood dangers high from Kansas and Missouri to Virginia through the week.
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