Flood in Stoddard County, Missouri

Major flooding occurred, causing a number of road closures. Numerous roads were underwater. The Castor River experienced severe flooding. Four breaches were reported along a levee on the Castor River near Aquilla. The breaches were 12 to 25 feet in length. The resulting flooding forced emergency crews to rescue at least one family. The Castor River came up to the base of the Highway 25 bridge at Aquilla. West of Advance, the community of Greenbrier was flooded by the Castor River. Water was three and a half feet deep inside a church in Greenbrier, about six inches higher than the flood of 1982. The 1982 flood was considered the worst in memory for longtime local residents. Thousands of sandbags were stacked around Circle City. A business was sandbagged in Puxico. A pickup truck was swept off a street in Dexter. Another hard hit town was Advance, where at least a few homes were flooded when diversion channel ditches overflowed. Two water rescues were conducted, including one on Highway N near Bell City. A levee failed near Painton, washing the pavement off Highway O and flooding many acres of farmland. Countywide, at least 33 homes were damaged, and 12 others were destroyed.

Torrential rainfall amounts from 6 to 12 inches occurred over a two-day period, causing an historic flood event. A very slow-moving cold front over southwest Illinois and southeast Missouri provided the focus for prolonged heavy rainfall. A deep southwest wind flow brought subtropical moisture across the frontal zone. Two-day rainfall amounts included 13.05 inches at Cape Girardeau and 12.50 inches at Marble Hill (Bollinger County). The highest amounts were just over a foot from Cape Girardeau westward across the hilly terrain of Bollinger and Wayne Counties. At the Poplar Bluff airport, the two-day total was 7.11 inches. Other two-day totals included: 12.52 at the Cape Girardeau airport, 12.08 at Jackson, and 6.30 at Perryville. The rainfall at Cape Girardeau was the greatest single-day rainfall total on record. It contributed to the all-time wettest month at Cape Girardeau. The lowest amounts were near the Missouri Bootheel (in and near New Madrid), where around 4 inches fell. The Missouri National Guard was activated to assist with emergency operations in the hardest hit counties.