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This is the wettest day in St. Louis’s history. Early Tuesday morning, a line of steady thunderstorms dumped 8–10 inches of rain on the area, which swelled rivers and creeks and left drivers stranded on several roads.
Flooding has forced many people to leave their homes in St. Louis.
Ann Vastmans, an expert in emergency management, talks about how to help the people of St. Louis who were hurt by the terrible floodwaters. Eastman says that most water rescues happen in the north and middle of St. Louis County.
ST. LOUIS — One person died early Tuesday morning after hours of nonstop thunderstorms dumped record amounts of rain on the St. Louis area. This caused homes and roads to flood in several neighbourhoods and forced dozens of water rescues.
The National Weather Service issued the city’s first-ever Flash Flood Emergency because the city broke its record for the most rain in a single day. The National Weather Service says that some storms have had 6 to 12 inches or more of rain, with 1 to 3 inches of rain falling per hour. On rare occasions, it rained as much as 5 inches per hour.
Some of the flood damage outside Ladue Horton Watkins HS in St. Louis. This is far from the worst of it…@foxweather @FoxNewsMMR pic.twitter.com/RsRH9NxWkV
— Madison Scarpino (@madisonscarpino) July 26, 2022
In response to the flooding, Gov. Mike Parson, who is away on a trade mission, asked Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe to declare a state of emergency for Missouri.
This situation is especially dangerous. “GO NOW TO HIGHER GROUND!” was the warning from the National Weather Service.
The person who died did so in St. Louis. Chief Dennis Jenkerson said that firefighters were told about a car that was under 8.5 feet of water.
As the water went down, the car was revealed, and firefighters found a dead person inside. No other information about the victim was given out. Jenkerson said that at least 70 other people who were trapped by floodwaters in the city have been saved.
Table of Contents
7 FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT FLASH FLOODS
The Facebook page of an animal shelter says that 10 puppies died when floodwaters got to the shelter.
Stray Paws Adoptable staff said, “Unfortunately, the puppies did not make it because the water was too high.” “It breaks our hearts.”
AVOID HIGHWAY 70 going EASTBOUND AT ALL COSTS! @FOX2now @ksdknews @KMOV #Flooding #Weather #Storm pic.twitter.com/7COIlp4orU
— Patrico (@Patrico1057) July 26, 2022
Flooded communities in the area can stay at the Richmond Community Center, which has a county shelter that is friendly to pets. Sam Page, the head of St. Louis County, says that the American Red Cross is helping about 100 people at the shelter with their basic needs.
People who have damage to their property should call 2-1-1 to report it to the United Way.
1 in 1,000 chance rain event
The National Weather Service in St. Louis said it rained 12.34 inches in St. Peters, while a spotter in O’Fallon, on the edge of St. Louis, said it rained 10.88 inches during the storm.
With 8.56 inches of rain, the official weather station at Lambert Airport in St. Louis broke its record for the wettest day. Most of the rain fell in just a few hours. The old record was 6.85 inches, which was set in 1915 when the Galveston Hurricane was still going strong.
The NWS said that the amount of rain that fell on Tuesday is only likely to happen once every 1,000 years.
Tuesday night and Wednesday, more rain is expected. The latest weather report says that it will rain 2 to 4 inches.
“With fields and yards that were already wet. We know that when it rains more, there will be more flooding, more property damage, and more chances of getting hurt “Page said.
Flash Flood Warnings spread across 250 miles
From all over the western part of St. Louis, dozens of calls came in about roads being closed and people needing help in the water. Along Hermitage Avenue, firefighters from St. Louis saved six people and six dogs from 18 homes in a neighbourhood that had “significant flooding.”
Officials in St. Louis said that more than 70 people were saved throughout the day.
Wow! Flooding in #StCharlesCity caused the Frontier Park pedestrian bridge to collapse from hillside erosion. It is currently barricaded off.
Please be safe today! pic.twitter.com/u66Tpbk3Yp
— City of Saint Charles, MO (@SaintCharlesMo) July 26, 2022
In western St. Louis, police said that water was getting close to homes in the Ladue area, and rescues were being done. Several cars were stuck on Lindbergh Boulevard, just north of Interstate 64, according to people who saw them. More cars got stuck in the Maryland Heights neighbourhood because of floodwaters.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Cpl. Logan Bolton told FOX Weather, “These roads are very flooded, and some people are trying to get through, but they get stuck, so we have to do water rescues.”
Their marine units, which usually help people in trouble on lakes and rivers, have been busy in cities.
Bolton exclaimed, “This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” It’s not every day we have to use our marine units for water rescues and the removal of their boats from the interstates.” In some spots, the water is higher than the tops of automobiles.”
Several automobiles were submerged on Skinker Parkway, where St. Louis Fire firefighters were using small boats to rescue drivers.
One driver in St. Peters had to be rescued when their car was carried into Spencer Creek while travelling on the highway.
Central County Fire & Rescue spokesperson Chief Jason Meinershagen said, “We were able to navigate water that was above their heads to get to that individual.” As of right now, he’s in a safe place and being brought to a hospital.
The Metrolink station in Forest Park DeBaliviere was also severely flooded:
This bridge in St. Louis County has been closed because of erosion concerns. Engineers from the county are looking into the bridge.
A major flood stage has been exceeded in Fee Fee Creek and Deer Creek, according to the NWS. Due to erosion, the pedestrian bridge in Frontier Park in St. Charles, Missouri, fell
In St. Charles County near St. Peters, the Mid Rivers Mall Drive area of Interstate 70 was flooded and closed due to flooding, and in St. Louis County at the Interstate 44 intersection, lanes were flooded and closed at Lucas and Hunt Road because of flooding.
Parts of Interstates 170 and 270 were also flooded and closed at times Tuesday morning.
Flooding spreads into Illinois
Flash Floods Warnings have been extended to the eastern part of the state. South of Wellsville, when 3-8 inches of rain fell, Highway 19 became inundated.
Flash Flood Warnings were in force in southwestern Illinois until mid-morning Tuesday after 2-5 inches of rain fell. Some sections of Interstates 64, 55, and 70 in the Monroe and St. Clair areas were included in the advisories.
How did it get so wet?
A frontal boundary that stalled over a densely populated area combined with high levels of atmospheric moisture to cause the historic rainfall.
The boundaries “stalled out across the region” as a warm front lifted Monday night, a FOX Weather Meteorologist said. “South of (the front) is warm air; in fact, heat advisories are in effect in southern Missouri; and then, to the north, is colder air. Neither of these two air masses can triumph over the other. That’s where the weather that’s causing havoc is set up and doesn’t seem to be moving.”
In the meantime, there was already a lot of moisture in the air in that region.
According to Minar, “there’s no way to move this boundary north or south.” Along that limit, the rain will continue to fall as if on a railway track.”
That boundary, which skewed slightly toward St. Louis, was the path of the storms.
As a result, rain fell at a rate of 2-4 inches per hour over St. Louis, resulting in the 5- to 10-inch rainfall reports that have poured in since midnight, according to Minar. “In addition, because this boundary isn’t moving, these storms will be running into the same places for a few more hours… Residents of St. Louis say they’ve never experienced rain quite like this.”
For most of the morning, there will be a steady flow of activity that will fade away by lunchtime and continue into the afternoon. We’ll probably have more rain on Wednesday.
Follow unitedfact.com for more latest updates.
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