Flash Flood in Reynolds County, Missouri

Very heavy rain fell over Reynolds county beginning late on the 17th of March and throughout the day on the 18th. The co-operative observer in Ellington reported a storm total of 9.7 inches. Four inches of rain fell in Ellington through 8 am on the 18th, then another 2 inches fell between 8 am and 11 am on the 18th, with an additional 3.7 inches in the hours after that. This caused the creeks in the area to rise rapidly including Logan Creek which flows through the middle of Ellington. The creek began to rise rapidly around 7 am, rising nearly 10 feet by noon. Around 8 am, an 81 year old man was trying to clear some flood debris from a bridge that goes over the creek next to his business and was possibly knocked into the flood waters by a camper trailer that had been washed away from its location. He was pronounced dead at 830 am. A number of homes and businesses were flooded in town and several propane tanks were floating in the flood waters. Numerous roads throughout Reynolds county were flooded due to the heavy rains.

A large upper trough with a closed upper low slowly moved east across the Central United States March 17th through the 19th. This allowed a strong southerly flow to transport copious amounts of moisture from the deep south into the Midwest. Several waves of low pressure moved along a nearly stationary frontal boundary that remained just south of the forecast area, across northern Arkansas and extreme southern Illinois. Several rounds of rain and thunderstorms brought locally heavy rainfall to much of the forecast area, with the greatest amounts confined along and south of Interstate 44 in Missouri and Interstate 70 in Illinois. Total rainfall ranged from less than an inch across portions of west central Illinois to almost 10 inches in southern Reynolds County, Missouri. The excessive rainfall led to flash flooding of low lying areas and major flooding on local rivers and creeks for the next week. Many people were affected by this event, with millions of dollars in damage recorded across the forecast area.