Columbia Fire Department’s response plan to flash floods around Columbia

COLUMBIA Mo. (KMIZ)

Severe storms rolled through Mid-Missouri early Wednesday morning and brought some flash floods to Columbia.

A flash flood warning was in effect in Boone County until 7:15 Wednesday morning, and around 4 a.m. there was an attempted water rescue at Vandiver and Paris road.

In the event of flash flooding, Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Heidenrich encourages residents to stay home. He says the best place to stay is indoors in a strong sturdy building.

If your home is in an area that is prone to flooding, be aware and ready to react quickly should conditions worsen.

CFD also says not to drive in any type of flood water. Six inches of water is enough to sweep a person off their feet and move a vehicle, and two feet of water is enough to carry a vehicle downstream.

With the strong chance of flooding, CFD has looked into the possibility of permanently staffing the boats they have in case the need for a water rescue arises.

Assistant Fire Chief Heidenrich spoke with ABC 17 about how the mutual aid agreement with surrounding areas help on a day like today.

"We have a working relationship with Boone County Fire, other surrounding departments as well as other city departments and divisions as well. So we've already made contact with joint communications to make sure we have a plan in place should a rapid increase in call volume occur. On top of that we have the ability through mutual aid to call in resources and they have the ability to call resources from us." Heidenrich said.