On July 10 at 3:00 in the morning, Riversedge Campground, located along the Black River in Lesterville, saw 10 to 15 feet of water in a massive flash flood.
The campground store had been moved from its foundation, RVs and cars had floated down the river, the horse stables were gone and people were rescued from the roof of the bathhouses.
While no people or livestock were injured, the campground was devastated.
The Missouri Governor's Office said this was a “1-in-1,000-year rainfall event,” and the flood required over 200 water rescues by first responders throughout the region.
Riversedge was not the only campground affected; Camp Taum Sauk, also in Lesterville, saw 202 children and camp counselors air evacuated by the Missouri National Guard and flown to the Arcadia Valley Elementary School, where they were reunited with their families.
According to Becky Stull, director of operations for Wilderness Lodge, Riverside Campground and Black River Lodge, said in previous years July weekends were the busiest time of the year, but since the flood, business has taken a hit.
“The campground is still basically shut down, except for the [float service]. We were able to start those back up weeks later,” Stull said. “The lodge saw a lot of people gett scared from the flood and looked ahead to they get canceled because they weren't sure what the roads and the flood damage would look like for floating and things like that. So some of that has picked back up, but it is definitely much lower than what had been scheduled.”
Stull said they will be working on renovating the campground and adding upgrades following the construction.
“So we're actually going to raise the floor, so it will be out of the flood zone, and then also add in like a tornado shelter and game room down underneath it, and then change the entrance of of the campground so that there is higher because the roads leaning into it on the county roads actually completely washed out, and we're working with the county to see what we can do to address that. And then, like Cors Engineer for the direction of the water that comes down towards that area,” Stull said.
Stull said the float trips are the only operations available at the Riversedge Campground for the remainder of the season; however, all of the lodges were unaffected by the flood and remain open.
“We do still have reservations online, and then also by calling us or emailing with all of the locations. Most of the outfitters are open back up, even on a partial status out there. So we just encourage everybody to continue to support everyone in the community by by going to the businesses and enjoying the river and and floating.”
Riversedge Campground is currently trying to raise $7,000 through a GoFundMe for the restoration and is just over 40% of their goal.