Flooded roadways in Columbia are resulting in longer response times for emergency teams

COLUMBIA. Mo. (KMIZ)

Brad Frazier with the Columbia Fire Department said his crews responded to five water rescues in a 90 minute period Friday morning, but the response time took a bit longer than expected.

Frazier said not only are the commonly flooded roadways closed but roadways in different areas are flooded also. He said this makes it harder for emergency crews to navigate which route they can take to respond.

More flooded roadways are expected into Friday night and Saturday morning as another round of storms moves across Mid-Missouri.

"The main thing is don't drive over water-covered roadways because it only takes a couple of inches of rain to get a vehicle off of the road and into a creek," said Frazier.

Frazier said people in Columbia have been avoided roadway barriers and driving through the dangerous flooded roadway resulting in water rescue incidents.

Especially in water rescue situations, Frazier says it can take crews a little bit of time to get to where that person is stuck. "We have to get a boat out and there's equipment that we have to make sure to put on to be safe and depending on the location we have to watch for swift-moving water," said Frazier.

Columbia Fire Crews did have a busy Friday morning, but Frazier says they have rested through the break-in storms and are preparing for the next round.