MoDOT: Highway 94 closed in Callaway County after heavy rain, could take weeks to clear
MOKANE, Mo. (KMIZ)
A highway along the Missouri River in Mokane was among those listed as closed by flooding Thursday morning across the state.
Storms dropped several inches of rain on the area overnight starting early Wednesday and continuing through Thursday morning. Mokane received around 9 inches of rain over 72 hours, according to the ABC 17 News Stormtrack Weather Team.
Rain totals through in other parts of Mid-Missouri at 10:30 a.m. Thursday included 4.9 inches in Fulton, 3.4 inches in Jefferson City, 2.5 inches in Columbia, 7 inches in Macon and 6.6 inches in Moberly.
“We washed out a bunch of roads were out putting rock down as fast as we can we got a lot of tree damage trees over the road and its just taking a lot of time,” said Tyler Cope, who is an equipment operator for Callaway County Road and Bridge.
Roads are flooded with water, fallen trees and other miscellaneous debris which could take up to weeks to clear and months to fix. Cope says they will continue to keep repairing until the road is back to normal.
“We'll run as long as we can for the next couple of weeks to get everything back in shape, that way cars can get up and down the roads," he said. "Then, throughout the next couple months we’ll finished everything out and make it look like a road again.”
Route PP and Highway 94 in Callaway County were closed Thursday. Route C was closed in Saline County. Route C heading northbound was closed in Audrain and Callaway counties, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation's traveler information map.
In Gasconade County, Routes K and W have closed both ways due to flooding on the roads. Saline County was also seeing road closures due to flooding on Highway 127.
Callaway County Eastern District Commissioner Randall Kleindienst advised residents to be cautious and patient as the crews continue repairing roads.
"Be cautious when driving out on the road right now because there could be flooding and there could be washouts that we’re not aware of yet," Kleindienst said. "We have 800 miles of road that we have to maintain. Our crews are out there working their tails off to try and make it right."
The heavy rain pushed the Lamine River at Otterville into moderate flood stage Thursday morning and the Moreau River near Jefferson City was forecast to hit flood stage later in the day.
