Historic rainfall over St. Louis strands motorists, residents in flash flooding; shelter puppies drown
People were trapped in homes and vehicles in and around St. Louis on Tuesday as record rainfall unleashed flash floods throughout the region in Missouri.
The famed Golden Arch was closed as surrounding streets were inundated by a storm that arrived around midnight Tuesday and lingered, National Weather Service meteorologist Marshall Pfahler said.
Matthew Robinson holds onto his dog Bebe as and Kimberly Tat are rescued from their home by first responders from Central County Fire and Rescue along Main Street in Old Towne St. Peters after flooding from Dardenne Creek inundated the neighborhood during heavy rains on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (Robert Cohen/)
“You have this swath of up to 10-inch amounts, and a county or two south they had a trace or even less,” Pfahler told The Associated Press.
First responders plucked people from houses, apartment buildings and motor vehicles. Dogs were among the rescued, though several puppies drowned when water got inside a shelter.
What the National Weather Service described as a “historic rainfall” dumped up to 10 inches of rain on the St. Louis metropolitan area on Tuesday, 8.3 inches of it measured by 8 a.m. at Lambert Airport. That eclipsed the previous single-day record of 6.85 inches set in 1915, which was tied to hurricane remnants, USA Today reported.
Abandoned cars are scattered by flooding across a shuttered Interstate 70 at Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters after heavy rain fell through the night and into the morning on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (Robert Cohen/)
The NWS warned about “dangerous life-threatening flash flooding” across central and eastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois.
“Seek shelter if you are threatened by flooding,” the NWS tweeted. “Never drive into flooded roads.”
The St. Louis Fire Department said it had rescued six occupants and six dogs after responding to 18 homes that were flooded, trapping occupants. Fifteen people opted to stay put, the department added.
John Ward, left, and a firefighter help Lynn Hartke wade through the flash floodwater on Hermitage Avenue in St. Louis on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (David Carson/)
About 100 people were trapped and rescue operations were underway after a creek flooded near an apartment complex in Hazelwood, about 20 miles northwest of St. Louis.
While the rain was over by mid-morning, the flooding was not. No people were reported injured, but several puppies drowned inside a stray dog rescue operation in St. Peters. Other dogs were rescued from the facility by firefighters in boats.
The downpour left widespread damage across the St. Louis region, with more than 11 inches dumped on parts of St. Charles County and as many as 10 inches elsewhere in the metropolitan area.
The affluent city of Ladue was threatened by rising water, and residents in Brentwood, in St. Louis County, had to evacuate when Deer Creek overflowed.
Steven Bertke and his dog Roscoe are taken to dry land by St. Louis firefighters who used a boat to rescue people from their flooded homes on Hermitage Avenue in St. Louis on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. (David Carson/)
Parts of highways were flooded out too, stranding some people for hours.
An extended drought in the region had left the ground rock-hard, which Pfahler said could have contributed to the flooding, as the water would not have been absorbed immediately. The cement and asphalt of a large metro region also made it harder to absorb the water, he said.
Storms were expected to continue throughout the week.
With News Wire Services
