BOLLINGER COUNTY, Mo. — Four months after an EF2 tornado decimated parts of Bollinger County, Mo., residents woke up on Aug. 14 to flooded roads and water seeping into their homes.
The storm hit Marble Hill and Glenallen, two communities located two hours south of St. Louis and less than an hour’s drive from Cape Girardeau, the hardest. Radar estimates in this region show five to six inches of rain falling in about a three-hour span.
Justin Gibbs, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., issues weather warnings for southeastern Missouri and explained his team was monitoring this region for flooding. “This part of Bollinger County, including the town of Glenallen, had already been inundated with rain the past few weeks.”
He mentioned the heaviest rain, about 3.5 to 4 inches, fell from just before 2 a.m. through about 3:15 a.m. This caused already swollen creeks to overflow, bringing about six feet of water onto the streets of Glenallen, trapping people in their homes.
“A level two Flash Flood Warning was issued overnight that had cellphones blaring, alerting residents.” He added Glenallen is the same town where an EF2 tornado touched down on April 5, 2023, causing widespread destruction, with many folks still recovering from that event.
The terrain in this part of southeastern Missouri has rolling hills, with most houses built into the valleys. Gibbs explained that although not mountainous, the terrain here can enhance localized flash flooding, which is what happened.
Water-covered roads had streets in Glenallen, Marble Hill and the community of Grassy closed Monday morning. NWS Paducah received a report of water rescues occurring at the Castor River Campground, but it did not show any injuries.
Gibbs says this part of Bollinger county has now received 13 to 15 inches of rain through the first half of August, nearly four to five times the normal amount of the entire month.
He tells me that water began receding late Monday morning and the Flash Flood Warnings could expire. However, the Flood Warning for the St. Francis River in Wayne County, Mo. will continue through Tuesday afternoon.
The good news is the forecast for the rest of the week in southeast Missouri does not include any rain, allowing these communities to, once again, clean up after Mother Nature’s wrath.
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