Flood — Jefferson, Missouri

2017-04-30 · near Hoene Spg, Jefferson, Missouri

Event narrative

The Meramec and Big Rivers rose above major flood stage in the late evening hours of April 30th due to the heavy rainfall. A number of roads were closed due to the river flooding. A 77-year old man drowned when he walked to a creek (that feeds into the nearby Big River) near his house (off of Mimi Mountain Road and Highway BB) to survey the rising water, slipped and was swept away by the current. His body was recovered about three quarters of a mile downstream.

Wider weather episode

A strong spring storm system brought multiple rounds of thunderstorms and heavy rain to the southeast half of Missouri during the weekend of April 29th-30th. Rainfall totals surpassed nine inches in some locations and this led to flash flooding and historic flooding along some of the tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Areas along the Meramec River were especially hard hit as new records were set at Steelville, Sullivan, and Eureka. The previous records had just recently been set during the late December flooding of 2015. Two major highways, I-44 and I-55 were shut down for a number of days due to the record river flooding from this event. A few thunderstorms also became severe during the afternoon of April 29th, with two weak tornadoes documented.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.4664, -90.7359)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 714272. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.