Eight Black Hawk helicopters lifted off from a rain-soaked summer camp in southeastern Missouri on Friday, carrying more than 200 children and counselors to safety after a storm dumped up to a foot of rain in a matter of hours. By Saturday, the same flooding had claimed a life.
The storms that battered Crawford, Iron, Madison, Reynolds and Wayne counties produced what Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called “a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event in some of these locations.” Roads washed out, a campground building collapsed into rising water, and a Crawford County woman who had gone missing in the floodwaters was found dead Saturday.
The Missouri National Guard mobilized eight Black Hawk helicopters to fly 202 campers and counselors out of Camp Taum Sauk in Lesterville, according to Kehoe. Roads into the small Reynolds County community had washed out overnight, trapping the group until crews could reach them by air and fly them to Arcadia Valley Elementary School to reunite with their families.
“Missouri’s first responders once again answered the call with extraordinary bravery, professionalism, and compassion, rescuing hundreds of Missourians from dangerous floodwaters.”
Gov. Mike Kehoe
Not everyone reached dry ground by air. At the Bearcat Getaway campground near the Black River, about 85 miles south of St. Louis, a group of campers had climbed onto a building to escape the rising water when the structure gave way beneath them.
“Between the weight and the constant waters underneath it, it just gave away on them,” said Sgt. Eddie Young of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Three more people were pulled from trees along the Black River in Reynolds County that evening. Two rescue boats capsized during the operation; both crews were recovered safely downstream, the sheriff’s office said. No major injuries were reported among the hundreds evacuated.
The counties hit hardest are also some of the region’s busiest for summer recreation, which meant plenty of people were outdoors when the water rose. “It’s very, very popular place for recreation,” said Matt Beitscher, a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in St. Louis. “So there are campgrounds there. There are float trip locations there. A lot of vulnerable populations that would be susceptible to flash flooding.”
The search for Faith Gregory
One search did not end in a reunion. Faith Gregory was on top of a canoe near Missouri V and Davisville Road in the community of Davisville around 3 or 4 a.m. Friday, according to her friend Savanna Ware, when the current swept her away. She had her four dogs with her. Only one has been found.
Crews from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, the Steelville and Quad County fire protection districts and the county coroner searched the watershed for roughly a day and a half. They found her Saturday around 11:30 a.m., about 1.8 miles downstream from her home.
“This is not the outcome that any of us were hoping for. Our thoughts and prayers are with Faith’s family, friends, and all those affected by this tragic loss.”
Crawford County Sheriff’s Office
Three of her dogs are still missing.
Kehoe declared a state of emergency Friday and activated one of the state’s search-and-rescue teams. He said the Black River was expected to crest above 28 feet near Annapolis, which would be a record for the waterway, with additional rain in the forecast. “As recovery efforts continue and additional rain is expected, I urge everyone in flood-prone and low-lying areas to stay weather-aware, have multiple ways of receiving alerts, and be ready to take protective action,” he said.
Families in Lesterville have their own recent flood stories about which animals get left behind and which don’t. Gregory’s are still out there. Search efforts along the Huzzah watershed are continuing even as highway crews begin assessing how much of the washed-out Route 21 will need to be rebuilt before the next round of weekend storms arrives in the wider region.
