As the hours wore on, the rain continued to fall and floods inundated the city and surrounding areas, forcing people to flee or wait for rescue teams to find them.
Jessica Perez was awakened by her son around 3:30 a.m. to find her basement flooded with several inches of water, she told CNN. The video taken by Perez shows the basement covered in murky water, soaking the legs of furniture while floating Christmas decorations and other objects.
The water had receded by 9 a.m., revealing a layer of debris and black mud and leaving everything in ruins in the basement, Perez said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life,” he said.
From Monday night to Tuesday, over 9 inches of rain fell in St. Louis, surpassing the city’s highest 24-hour rainfall total, which was 7.02 inches on August 19-20, 1915. Although the rain subsided by Tuesday afternoon, it is expected that the area will receive less intense rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday, which could lead to flash flooding in areas that were soaked by Tuesday’s storms, the National Meteorological Service said
The flood left at least one person dead on Tuesday. The man’s body was found in a vehicle that had been submerged under more than 8 feet of water, city Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said. A concerned resident called police to the low-lying area and found the body when the water receded, he said.
Rescuers were scattered throughout the area to help residents trapped in the flood. The fire department responded to about 18 homes where people were trapped, rescuing six people and six dogs, the department said. Approximately 15 people chose to shelter in place.
The County Executive of St. Louis, Sam Page declared a state of emergency for the area, which allows the state to apply for federal relief funding, Page said in a tweet. Shelters were set up for displaced residents in the region. Among those who took shelter Tuesday was a family from the suburb of University City, she told CNN. Affiliate KSDK The water was entering their home so quickly that they had to flee barefoot, leaving behind medicine, walkers and canes. But the items they will mourn the most, they said, are their irreplaceable sentimental possessions, such as photos of family members who are no longer alive.
Roads turned into rivers
Floodwaters that inundated homes also turned roads into raging rivers, forcing multiple street closures as vehicles were submerged up to their windows and drivers were stranded across the city, waiting for rescuers in boats.
At one point Tuesday, the four interstates leading into downtown St. Louis (I-70, I-64, I-55 and I-44) had at least one closure due to flooding, KMOV reported.
A stretch of I-70 in the area of St. Louis — where vehicles were seen stuck in the water — was closed in both directions during the early morning hours and motorists were urged to avoid the interstate.
“You can see cars floating around here,” driver Jerome Smith said in a video he shot while stuck on I-70 for three hours.
As of Tuesday afternoon, roads were mostly clear and all bridges over the Des Peres River were open, said Heather Taylor, assistant director of public safety for St. Louis.
It wasn’t just drivers who saw hours-long delays on Tuesday. Portions of the MetroLink rail system in the St. Louis were flooded, with possible equipment damage threatening shutdowns of more than two weeks as services are restored, according to the the city’s transit agency.
Footage showed water running through the Forest Park-DeBaliviere Metrolink station. “It’s a river right now … I’ve never seen it in the four years I’ve been here,” said Tony Nipert, who lives near the station.
The severe flooding that drenched the region also severely damaged electrical equipment, with thousands of power outages in St. Louis. By afternoon, power had been restored to nearly 20,000 customers, according to the power company. americans.Of the more than 9 inches that fell in 24 hours in St. Louis, 7.68 inches fell in just six hours. The heavy rains in St. Louis have less than a 1 in 1,000 chance of occurring in a given year based on historical data. according to the weather service. The climate crisis is supercharging rainfall worldwide, with rising temperatures making record downpours more likely as more moisture is stored in the atmosphere, experts say. Scientists are increasingly confident of the role that the climate crisis plays in extreme weather conditions.
According to a report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the once-a-decade, one-day rainfall dumps (between 1850 and 1900) are expected to become more common.
“Potentially significant” flash flooding is possible elsewhere in the United States this week
In some states east of Missouri, more storms over the next few days, combined with already saturated soils, could lead to “potentially significant areas of flash flooding,” according to the Weather Prediction Center. said. There is a moderate — or level 3 out of 4 — risk of excessive rain Wednesday and Thursday across parts of Kentucky, West Virginia and northern Tennessee, the center of the forecast. said.
But these are only the areas of greatest risk. A “conveyor belt of heavy rain and thunderstorms” will extend from the Southwest into the central Appalachians over the next few days, the center said.
Flash flooding could occur from the Ozarks through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, and into parts of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and western Kansas on Friday, the center said.
CNN’s Amy Simonson, Amy Roberts, Sharif Paget, Sara Smart, Melissa Alonso, Jason Hanna and Caroll Alvarado contributed to this report.
