PACIFIC, Mo.— Residents in Pacific woke up Friday morning to flood waters inching closer to homes and businesses. Liberty Fields is under multiple feet of water in places and is currently closed.

Evacuations took place in Pacific ahead of the Meramec River reaching its crest Friday. 

Related Stories

School is out again on Friday, but Thursday children who might otherwise be in school found another way to spend their time on an unscheduled day off. A good number of them were at a commuter lot, with older kids helping to fill sandbags, while younger children kept everyone hydrated as the city prepared for the impact of Meramec River flooding. Many others weren’t there to get sandbags for themselves, but instead wanted to help others.

“It’s nice of everybody getting together and helping everybody else out because there’s a lot of people over there that’s helping that don’t need the sandbags so they’re just out there to help out and make sure everybody else needs them,” said Amanda Eatherton. “There’s been several people just letting them use their trucks and taking them and delivering them, especially for the older people that can’t get out.”

Thursday afternoon, city officials were operating on the expectation that the river would crest at 26.3 at noon on Friday, putting it roughly 11 feet over flood stage. The main concern is for the part of the city south of the railroad tracks, which the city said could impact a quarter of Pacific’s population of roughly 7,500.

Evacuation orders went out to impacted residents and there were signs that the order was heeded, with businesses closed and storefronts and homes barricaded with sandbags.

Pacific road closures

  • Jefferson Street, which connects to an industrial area south of the city, is closed 
  • Denton Road is closed northward from Jefferson Rd, Industrial Park employees may temporarily use Candlewick and Highway N, and the emergency gate access on the west end of Jefferson
  • 1st Street is closed between the Meramec River and Congress
  • 2nd Street is closed south of Congress
  • 3rd Street is closed south of Congress

Eatherton has lived in the greater region for years but is a relatively recent transplant to Pacific over the past 3 years. She described the last few days as craziness, as she got ready to leave Thursday.

“I know normally it floods up to the railroad tracks but I don’t know how high up on the house it’ll get. My house is raised but not everybody’s is,” she said. She said her home was raised nine feet after flooding in the 1990s.

Pacific Mayor Heather Filley said it’s something residents have learned over the course of several flooding events.

"We've seen some of the homes and businesses relocate from the south side of town after the 2017 flood. We had 2015, immediately followed by 2017, they just moved to a higher location. We also had several residents elevate their houses. So I think people have taken precautionary measures that still want to be living in this area of town to hopefully help with minimal damage during the floodwaters,” she said.

Residents in the impacted area who choose to stay will need to be prepared for longer wait times for emergency services. Impacted homes will also need to be reinspected before they can be reoccupied, a process that could start on Sunday if water levels cooperate with an expected timeline.

“The waters have a mind of their own,” Mayor Filley said. 

There are two shelters open for residents. The Tri-County Community Senior Center will be open 24 hours a day for as long as needed. Also, the Mission Community Church will be open between 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. These are only “refuge centers” and will not provide any sleeping accommodations.