Flash Flood — Mcdonald, Missouri

2019-06-23 · near Anderson, Mcdonald, Missouri

Event narrative

Excessive heavy rainfall caused rapid rises to occur on the Beaver Branch and Indian Creek. A home along Beaver Branch was swept off its foundation and washed downstream. An elderly woman in the home was unable to escape and perished in the flood waters. A bridge on Main Street received significant damage from rapidly moving high water where Beaver Branch flows through the middle of town. Significant damage occurred to a building in the vicinity of the bridge. Numerous evacuations were performed by emergency crews from homes, apartments and businesses. Around 80 homes and businesses received water damage as water several inches deep entered the structures. Some structures had as much as 3 feet of water in them. The dollar damage amount is a summary for all damages in McDonald County for this event.

Wider weather episode

Another cycle of overnight and early morning storms complexes with scattered afternoon storms resumed across the region during the June 21-24 period. Flash flooding and severe storms occurred each day with this activity. There was a Flash Flood Emergency issued for McDonald and Newton Counties on the morning of the 23rd as much as four to six inches fell on already saturated areas. One fatality occurred in McDonald County in the town of Anderson, as a home was washed away along Beaver Branch, a tributary to Indian Creek. This was the first flood fatality in a permanent home in the Springfield WFO, CWA history (since 1994).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.6430, -94.4492)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 835231. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.