Heavy Rain Event in Mid August 2016 Causes Flooding Concerns

The image below shows 6 day rainfall totals from Friday August 12th through 7am on August 18th. The heaviest totals were confined to portions of southeast Missouri and southwest Illinois, where many areas saw 8"-12"+! Some isolated locations received upwards of 15 to 17 inches in Carter and Wayne Counties, MO!

Many areas picked up between 3 and 5 times the normal August rainfall in under a week! The normal monthly rainfall total for these locations is about 3 inches. Please keep in mind that the map interpolates between observations, so some locations may have data values plotted that are over or under-estimated. As of August 18th, we saw measurable rain in some part of our forecast area for 49 of the past 50 days, dating back to June 30th. The only completely dry day during this period was on August 7th.

IMPACTS:

MISSOURI -

Black River: Serious flooding occurred along the Black River, resulting in one fatality and some flooded homes.
Several homes were evacuated, and there was considerable flooding of streets and highways.

In Poplar Bluff, portions of several streets were flooded with several feet of water, mainly those streets with river frontage. A city riverside park was flooded. Southeast of Poplar Bluff in a rural area, individuals were evacuated from a home on County Road 611, and homes on County Road 608 were threatened. Just east of Poplar Bluff, a water rescue of a flooded home was conducted near the intersection of Missouri Highway B and County Road 559.

Flooding of farmland was rather extensive south and southeast of Poplar Bluff. Floodwater from the river eventually shut down Highway 53 near the Black River bridge between Qulin and Poplar Bluff. The flooding was exacerbated by a levee breach at County Road 202 near Qulin. A 44-year-old woman was possibly attempting to find an alternate route around the flooding when her car became submerged on County Road 647 near Highway 53. The incident occurred on the night of the 16th. The vehicle and its deceased occupant were located on the afternoon of the 19th.

At the Poplar Bluff river gage, the river crested at 20.28 feet on the afternoon of the 16th. Flood stage is 16 feet.

Elsewhere: Widespread flooding of roads, creeks, and small rivers occurred as a result of several rounds of thunderstorms over a few days. North of Poplar Bluff, a water rescue was conducted on County Road 540 off of Highway W. A vehicle was submerged on a bridge. The occupant escaped the vehicle, but the vehicle was left on the bridge. In southwest Butler County, the Little Black River was out of its banks and flooding fields along U.S.
Highway 160. The river level was about two feet below the U.S. Highway 160 bridge. On Highway 158 east of Harviell at Cane Creek, a car drove around barricades and stalled. The occupants were rescued by the fire department. Southwest of Poplar Bluff, M Highway was closed at Cane Creek due to the creek being out of its banks. A trained spotter north of Poplar Bluff off Highway W reported 10 inches over the previous 72 hours.

ILLINOIS -

Numerous roads were covered by water for at least short periods of time. Some roads were closed or impassable at times, and a few small bridges were washed out. Union County: Just north of Alto Pass, a small bridge across Cave Creek was washed out. The bridge was on a dead- end street off Highway 127. Road crews were dispatched to several flooded roads around the area. A 24-hour rainfall amount of 7.9 inches was reported at Cobden, and just over 5 inches fell at Wolf Lake within 8 hours. Perry County: U.S. Route 51 was closed just south of Tamaroa due to flooding. Franklin County: A motorist was stranded in three to four feet of water at an intersection in West Frankfort. Public bystanders rescued the motorist. Numerous streets were closed in the city. A Cocorahs (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network) observer in West Frankfort measured a three-day rainfall total of 7.90 inches. Ditches were overflowing onto Route 149 east of Zeigler. Hamilton County: Several people were rescued from a flooded vehicle on a rural road four miles southwest of Mcleansboro. Just north of Dale, a large amount of water was crossing Illinois Route 142 and County Road 700N. There was also a large amount of water crossing Illinois Route 242 north of Mcleansboro near County Road 1800N.

For more details on flooding in Illinois and Missouri, as well as the relatively minor impacts in Kentucky and Indiana, please read the August, 2016 Storm Data report.