ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones have both declared a state of emergency following today’s historic flooding. Lt. Gov. MIke Kehoe, acting on behalf as the governor, also declared a state of emergency for Missouri due to the flooding.
The order for the entire state activates the Missouri State Emergency Operations Plan, allowing state agencies to coordinate directly with local jurisdictions to provide assistance.
County Executive Page said in signing the county declaration, it will allow the state to ask for federal funding. If the request is granted, it will provide relief for residents for damage and free up funding for small businesses. The moves at the local and state level are necessary before the Biden administration can declare a federal state of emergency in the area.
During an afternoon news conference at the County Emergency Management Center, Page and county department heads catalogued the impact on several county parks, ten county government buildings and seven county roads which have been closed due to flooding.
Residents and businesses with damage or those who need assistance are encouraged to call the United Way at 2-1-1 so that officials can direct callers to the proper aid programs, and so that damage can be inspected, either by the county or the appropriate municipality.
"I don’t remember the last time we saw a flash flood like this, this is a record for St. Louis County, nine inches is the record for today. What’s helped us a little bit is that our watershed’s been dry so there’s some capacity but this much rain this fast there’s just no place for the water to go and that’s why we’ve seen the damage in Hazelwood," Page said.
He described the waves of rain as "one train car after another" dumping rain on the region. Another round of rain is coming.
"If you’re wet now or you got wet this morning, you’re likely to get wet again...The fact that you didn’t flood last night doesn’t mean you’re safe tonight," he said, encouraging residents to have a bag packed in case people need to leave their homes for a few days.
Later this evening, Mayor Jones released a statement saying, “Communities throughout our region were devastated by last night’s record rainfall and flooding,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “My heart goes out to all those families who were impacted, and I remain in consistent communication with our partners at the county, state, and federal governments. This declaration of emergency will help us get the resources we need to begin our city’s recovery.”