Flash Flood — Wright, Missouri

2008-04-10 · near Loring, Wright, Missouri

Event narrative

One to three inches of rain fell over Wright County. Any areas that typically flood during periods of excessive rainfall were flooded. A 54 year old male attempted to cross Austin Ford Bridge, which was experiencing significant flooding. Austin Ford Bridge is a bridge along Highway E that crosses the Gasconade River. His truck was swept into the swift flowing water where he drowned.

Wider weather episode

Repeated development of storms along and north of an advancing warm front led to a large swath of greater than three inches of rain south of a line from Stockton to West Plains. This excessive rain occurred on wet soil conditions from record rainfall in February and March. Nearly 100 reports of flash flooding were received between midnight and 11 am on the 10th. Two fatalities occurred from this episode of dangerous flash flooding. Record flooding occurred along Lake Taneycomo as high releases from Table Rock Lake Dam flooded all lowlands along Taneycomo, including numerous frame and mobile homes. The Core of Engineers released 46,500 cubic feet per second, which was an all time high. The lake crested at 933.25 feet above sea level, which was a record level. Due to an unusually high water table along with saturated soil conditions, all counties within the NWS Springfield County Warning Area experienced widespread flooding on nearly all secondary roads. Emergency Management Directors across the region that were responsible for baracading roads, stated that as little as one half of an inch of rain was causing widespread road closures across their county of interest.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.3287, -92.5900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 94490. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.