Flood in Butler County, Missouri

Moderate flooding occurred along the Black River, resulting in one fatality and some flooded homes. Several homes were evacuated, and there was considerable flooding of streets and highways. In Poplar Bluff, portions of several streets were flooded with several feet of water, mainly those streets with river frontage. A city riverside park was flooded. Southeast of Poplar Bluff in a rural area, individuals were evacuated from a home on County Road 611, and homes on County Road 608 were threatened. Just east of Poplar Bluff, a water rescue of a flooded home was conducted near the intersection of Missouri Highway B and County Road 559. Flooding of farmland was rather extensive south and southeast of Poplar Bluff. Floodwater from the river eventually shut down Highway 53 near the Black River bridge between Qulin and Poplar Bluff. The flooding was exacerbated by a levee breach at County Road 202 near Qulin. A 44-year-old woman was possibly attempting to find an alternate route around the flooding when her car became submerged on County Road 647 near Highway 53. The incident occurred on the night of the 16th. The vehicle and its deceased occupant were located on the afternoon of the 19th. At the Poplar Bluff river gage, the river crested at 20.28 feet on the afternoon of the 16th. Flood stage is 16 feet.

A series of thunderstorm complexes over a period of several days resulted in locally significant flash flooding. A cold front stalled across the Lower Ohio and Mid-Mississippi Valleys, where tropical moisture was already in place. Precipitable water values from 2.25 to 2.5 inches were common. A sub-tropical low pressure system that produced torrential rains along the Gulf of Mexico coast then turned north, eventually getting pulled northeast across Missouri along the stalled cold front. This low brought copious amounts of moisture. Showers and isolated thunderstorms brought torrential downpours between the 13th and 17th. Rainfall amounts during this time ranged from 5 to 10 inches north and west of Cape Girardeau, including the Poplar Bluff and Perryville areas. There were isolated reports of 12 to 17 inches in the Ozark foothills, including Doniphan and Greenville.