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http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/30/missouri-braces-heavy-floods-evacuations-ordered/78065722/

USA Today

    USA TODAY

'Massive flood fight' underway in Missouri
Doug Stanglin, USATODAY 6:02 p.m. EST December 30, 2015

Citizens in some Missouri towns have already been urged to evacuate, and the state's governor has declared a state of emergency. Video provided by Newsy Newslook

Some communities already hit and high waters threaten levees on the Mississippi and its tributaries
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(Photo: AP/J.B. Forbes, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Record floodwaters from the raging Mississippi river and its tributaries swamped several communities in Missouri Wednesday and forced the shutdown of portions of the Interstate-44 lifeline as the state braced for steadiy rising water to threaten more than a dozen levees.

The threat was so great that the developments prompted Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant to sign a state of emergency declaration "ahead of Mississippi River flooding ahead in the coming days," Bryant said via Twitter.

The Mississippi, Missouri and Meramec rivers all were at or near flood stage and some communities, especially in the southwest, were already flooded.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has deemed 19 levees highly vulnerable to flooding; by midday, those levees, all under close scrutiny, were holding up.

[The danger here is that any one levee failing allows the entire river to empty at that point, flooding the surrounding area.]

Gov. Jay Nixon, who activated the National Guard, toured threatened areas near St. Louis Wednesday and said the state was locked in a "massive flood fight."

Nixon warned that low temperatures would further complicate the battle to protect life and property from this rare winter flood. "This is not a summer flood, this is dangerous," he told CNN on Wednesday.

The Mississippi River is expected to crest in downtown St. Louis Thursday at 43.7 feet, nearly 14 feet over flood stage. The rising water from the swollen river is expected to hit Memphis on Jan.3.

Along the tributaries of the Mississippi, high water is expected to hit Paducah, Ky., on the Ohio River, and Little Rock, on the Arkansas River, on New Year's Day.

At least 20 deaths over several days in Missouri and Illinois were blamed on flooding, mostly involving vehicles that drove onto swamped roadways, the Associated Press reported.

Fourteen deaths occurred in Missouri, including the latest victim, whose vehicle was swept off the road in Crawford County. All but one of the Missouri victims have died when their vehicles drove into flooded roadways.

In Illinois, Christian County officials said the latest deaths were a man and a woman found in floodwaters about 6 miles east of Edinburg. Officials say it appears they were trying to cross a flooded area. Police used cellphone location services to find them, but their minivan remains missing, the Associated Press reported.

In Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., five international soldiers assigned there for training drowned in flood waters on Sunday, the Army Times reported. The identities of the soldiers were not immediately released pending notification of family, the Times said.


Floodwaters from Lake Taneycomo surrounded several homes after a record amount of water was released from the Table Rock Lake dam on Dec. 29, 2015. (Photo: Nathan Papes/News-Leader)

In Missouri, some areas have already been hit hard by the first wave of rising water. Rockaway Beach, located near Branson in southwest Missouri, was swamped by waters from the swollen White River.

The tourist town of 800 "has just been demolished," Mayor Don Smith told KYTV. "It's devastating, and we are all so exhausted."

The nearby Table Rock Dam experienced record-breaking flooding, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The agency reported 72,000 cubic feet of water per second is being released from the dam, which surpasses the previous record of 69,000 cubic feet of water, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

In Valley Park, 15 miles southwest of St. Louis, authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation Wednesday as rising water was expected to breach a levee on the Meramec River. Mike Pennise, mayor of the town of 7,000 people, said up to 80% of local residents were already set to go by mid-morning, and some had already left.

The Meramec's rising waters at Valley Park also shut down Interstate 44, a major artery that carries 100,000 cars daily as it slices southwest through the state from St. Louis. I-44 was also closed at Jerome, Mo., 100 miles to the southwest, from flooding on the Gasconade River.

The shutdown of wide portions of I-44 not only snarled the daily commute, it played havoc with the hundreds of trucks who ply the route daily.

Many drivers, paid by the mile, were stuck with few alternatives, or were forced to travel on back roads, on hilly sections, and on roads with no shoulder, and limited passing lanes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. In some cases drivers were stranded because they weren't sure if their rigs would clear underpasses and bridges on some detour routes.

Missouri transportation officials said more than 200 state highways were closed statewide because of high water.

In nearby Pacific, around 300 homes and business were battling rising water as the Meramec threatened to top the record river level of 33.6 feet by as much as two feet, KTVI-TV reports.

Nixon toured flooded areas near Pacific on Wednesday afternoon only hours before the Meramec River’s was expected to crest at more than 18 feet above flood stage, just short of a 1982 record.

Nixon, who has activated the National Guard, said the state was braced for battles on numerous fronts as river levels threatened to match or exceed records set in 1993."We are in a massive flood flight across a wide swath of our state," he said.

Nixon said emergency crews were battling to keep the water contained on some area, while preparing for rescue efforts in other areas. "We're going to make sure the flood fights we can win, we win," he said." "But if we can't, we are going to get people out."

The massive weather system that has devastated parts of the South and Midwest also drove ice, snow, heavy rains – and headaches – into the Upper Midwest and Northeast.

Winter weather slowed traffic to a crawl in parts of New York, New England and elsewhere. Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas were among states battling flooding from days of heavy rain.
Homes in Pacific, Mo., were flooded after torrential rains over the past several days pushed already swollen rivers and streams to virtually unheard-of heights in parts of Missouri and Illinois.  Huy Mach, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via AP

In Milwaukee, two men died in separate incidents while trying to clean up snow around their residences. In one case, a 73-year-old man died after he collapsed while snow blowing, according to WISN. In the other incident, a 54-year-old man died after collapsing while shoveling snow, WISN reported.
In the Northeast, snow and ice posed the biggest problems. Boston, which last winter set a record with more than 9 feet of snow, has been reveling in a mild winter so far this season. On Tuesday the plows roared out of city garages.

"Encouraging everyone to be extra cautious during this morning's commute as #BOSnow makes an appearance for the first time this winter," Mayor Marty Walsh tweeted.

The roads across parts of New York state were littered with accidents and slowdowns. The Transportation Department warned drivers to "be extra alert when traveling to account for the snow/ice."

Heavy rains swelled a river in the town of Union, Missouri Tuesday, covering roadways and flooding homes and businesses along a nearby river. (Dec. 29) AP

Burlington, Vt., dealt with snow and sleet. Green Mountain Power, the state's largest utility, warned of likely outages as the winter storm bore down on the state.

The week-old weather pattern that brought tornadoes, snow, ice, heavy rain and flooding to Texas and parts of the Midwest and Southeast has been blamed for more than 40 deaths.

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Near St. Louis, West Alton residents who raised their houses above the '93 flood levels are not evacuated.


http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/west-alton-residents-told-to-evacuate-but-fire-chief-says/article_818ce6fe-a6ee-5472-90ef-82a14842cda3.html


WEST ALTON    •   Authorities on Tuesday morning directed West Alton residents to immediately evacuate as climbing water threatens routes out of town.

"This is the final step," said Richard Pender, chief of the Rivers Pointe Fire Protection District. "We're within hours of losing the town. Get what you have. It's time to leave."

Pender said flood water was starting to affect one of the two escape routes for the community — St. Charles Street at Highway 67 — and the intersection was expected to be inaccessible soon. He said another route still will be open but that might eventually be cut off as well.

He said the evacuation is not mandatory. Pender said about 25 percent of the 525 or so residents live in homes that were raised above the water levels reached in the epic 1993 flood.

The American Red Cross announced it will open a St. Peters shelter for flood victims at Francis Howell North High School at 2549 Hackmann Road.

"I'm not going to kick somebody out of their home if it's high and dry," Pender said. "That's why it's not mandatory."

Those residents will just use boats instead of cars and trucks to get around, the chief said.

He said flood water hasn't gotten into most of the town since around 1995 but that for a few homes near the Mississippi River, flooding happens on a yearly basis.