Flooded roads in Montgomery County expected to remain closed overnight

MoDOT is reporting that three roads in Montgomery county will likely remain closed overnight after being closed due to flash flooding.

The road closures include:

• Missouri Route 161 between Buell and V
• Route CC Between Glazier Trail and White Oak Rd.
• Route E Between Kneubuhler Rd. and Pine Knot Rd.

Officials ask drivers not to remove barricades or drive through water over the road.

Use alternate routes and refer to MoDOT's online traveler map for updates.

Part of Business 54 in Mexico closed

Part of Business 54 in Mexico was closed Tuesday afternoon because of continued flooding from overnight and morning rains.

The Missouri Department of Transportation said early Tuesday afternoon that the road had closed beneath the railroad overpass because of high flooding.

Business 54 passes by Lakeview Park, where the lake had overflowed its banks and was sending floodwater over the spillway.

The heavy rain also led to a roof collapse but no one was injured, Audrain County Emergency Management Director Carl Donaldson said.

Parts of Green Boulevard, Fairground and Elmwood were closed in Mexico early Tuesday because of flash flooding. All roads were re-opened just after six on Tuesday evening. Four vehicles were stranded on flooded roads and one vehicle went into a ditch when heavy rain affected visibility, the Mexico Department of Public Safety said in a news release. No one was injured.

The seven roads that were closed in the Mexico area Tuesday are prone to flooding, according to Mexico Emergency Management but safety is key.

Donaldson says, "There is not a lot of light out there and flash flooding is unpredictable and water could rise very fast and we don't want to have anyone in jeopardy."

As round two of rain is expected Tuesday evening Donaldson said Mexico Emergency Management if prepared and monitoring conditions.

"Our road and bridge crews are defiantly fully staffed right now, they are waiting for reports for the expectation of how much rain we are going to get, we monitor and communicate with our state and federal partners just to kind of monitor the situation," Donaldson said.

The St. Louis area was hit hard by flash flooding, prompting state officials to put Missouri Task Force 1 on alert in case the urban search and rescue team is needed. The team thought it would be deployed to that area Tuesday but those plans were called off.

The task force had planned to send a swift water rescue team that was made up of 24 people and six boats. Members of the rescue team planned to stage near St. Charles before being called off.

MoDOT closed parts of Interstate 70 in St. Charles earlier on Tuesday morning. Crews have reopened the westbound lanes of traffic to drivers.

The National Weather Service in St. Louis reports the city received more than 7 inches of rain since midnight. St. Louis set the previous daily rainfall record with around 6.8 inches on Aug. 20, 1915.