2-4" More Rain In St. Louis Thursday; Second Flood In Three Days As West End, Kingsway Swamped

[hatrack]

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Ellendale resident Debbie Boshans and her family were hard at work Thursday afternoon loading their dry belongings onto a trailer. Boshans, her husband and their cat had been rescued by firefighters Tuesday morning from their home on Odell Street. Then the rain came again. At 3:26 p.m. Thursday, she took a cellphone video showing sheets of rain pouring onto the grass and patio in her backyard. By 3:38 p.m., the ground was covered and Boshans’ street was filling up. “I can’t believe this happened again,” Boshan’s son-in-law, Kyle Mathes, said when the rain stopped. “It’s a double whammy.”

On Thursday, for the second time in three days, the St. Louis region was pounded with torrential rain. In addition to Ellendale, which also got hit hard during Tuesday’s record-setting downpour, the city’s central corridor and northwest side were drenched as interstates closed, businesses flooded and dozens of people needed rescuing from vehicles.

The storm lasted for only about 2½ hours in the city, and dropped about 2 to 4 inches of rain, according to early National Weather Service estimates — shorter and shallower than Tuesday’s deluge — but many residents were just beginning to deal with Tuesday’s destruction when Thursday’s flooding put them back at square one. In Ellendale, after the rain stopped, a generator set up hours earlier by the city to help residents was soaked and leaking diesel fuel. A port-a-potty was on its side, and cars already ruined by water were swamped for a second time. The city set up a large command center van, which provides air conditioning, coffee, water and snacks, said city spokesman Nick Desideri. The city has also secured some temporary housing for people at hotels and was working to get more, he said.

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Eastbound Interstate 70 at Union Boulevard and both directions of Highway 40 (Interstate 64) at Hampton Avenue were closed for part of the afternoon. Parts of I-64 reopened just before 5 p.m. By the time the city’s flash flood warning expired by 6 p.m., calls for rescues had slowed down, and water had begun receding on most roads. The region is finally expected to see some relief starting Thursday evening, with a dry forecast through Saturday.

EDIT

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-slammed-with-another-round-of-heavy-rain-flash-flooding/article_61ff5ac5-f14e-5725-aa84-48e210e7ef9e.html

[2naSalit]

1. Whole lot of flooding going on this year.

In places it doesn't normally flood or flooding beyond the normal, like in Montana this year.

I floated a portion of the Yellowstone 20 - 30 miles north of YNP last week, the damage is major. I saw parts of that house that fell in all along the way.

Wading in parts of the river* was not easy at knee deep, I can't imagine having to try and walk to safety in a situation like the people in the pictures above, with the weather still raging, not knowing where safety is... yikes.

This is our new normal, I fear.



* I was the roper so I had to jump out and pull the raft up and push off. And then there was the search for pretty rocks, best viewed in water, I'm silly enough to wade in a current up to my knees with a walking stick but I'm usually out there is nice weather with nothing to fear.