Record rain leads to rescues in St. Louis area; Task Force 1 standing by
ST. CHARLES, Mo. (KMIZ)
Record rainfall led to water rescues and closed roads Tuesday morning in the St. Louis area.
The rainfall closed major roads including part of Interstate 70 in St. Charles County and led to rescuers evacuating residents in boats in some areas. Lanes were closed in both directions near Mid Rivers Mall Drive, according to the MoDOT Traveler Information Map website. Traffic in the westbound lanes started to move through the area around 8:25 a.m.
Officials reported the flood caused at least 1 death and teams rescued 70 others. A stray dog rescue center in St. Peters also reported several puppies had drowned.
A spokesperson from the Red Cross of St. Louis says it will send in damage assessment teams once the water recedes more.
"At this point, a lot of people are just waiting to see if they can get back into the area where their homes are, or to be able to return," Sharon Watson with the Red Cross said. "So we'll be working with the city and county officials throughout the day to see if something more long-term is needed like an overnight shelter."
Missouri Task Force 1 out of Boone County prepared for deployment early this morning, but Missouri State Emergency Management later directed them to stay put.
With more rain on the way, Boone County Fire officials say they are still on high alert.
"So we are prepared to go, should we receive that call again, but at this point, we're putting stuff away and making sure that we're just, everything's packed and we're ready to go for the next deployment should we get one," task force spokesman Gale Blomenkamp said.
Parts of the St. Louis area received a historic amount of overnight rainfall. The National Weather Service in St. Louis reported the city recorded nearly 8 inches of rainfall since midnight.
***Record Daily Rainfall at St. Louis***
— NWS St. Louis (@NWSStLouis) July 26, 2022
St. Louis has recorded 7.02" of rainfall in the last five hours (since midnight), surpassing the old record of 6.85" on August 20th 1915. Historic rainfall event causing widespread flash flooding this morning. #stlwx #mowx
That total passed the previous record of more than 6.8 inches set on Aug. 20, 1915.
Several puppies drowned when water got into a building at Stray Paws Adoptables, a stray dog rescue operation in St. Peters, The Associated Press reported. Firefighters in boats were able to rescue other dogs from the building.
Damage across the St. Louis region was widespread after a massive downpour dropped more than 11 inches of rain in parts of St. Charles County and up to 10 inches elsewhere in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
At one point, sections of interstates 64, 55 and 44 also were closed in the St. Louis area, the AP reported.
Forecasters expected Tuesday's rain to wrap up by late morning, but more storms were likely through the rest of the week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
