UPDATE 5/01 5:18 p.m.: This story has been updated with the latest road closures.
Heavy rainfall over the weekend in southern Missouri has caused the Mississippi River to rise, leading to minor flooding and road closures. The National Weather Service is predicting the Mississippi River will reach moderate to major flood stage this week, cresting at 48.5 feet by Saturday morning. Last January, the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau broke records cresting at 48.86 feet.
Ahead of severe rainstorms and flash flooding in the region, Gov. Eric Greitens declared a state of emergency on Friday April 28. The Missouri National Guard, the State Emergency Management Agency, Missouri’s Task Force 1 Rescue Unit and the Missouri State Highway Patrol have been deployed and are dispersing water, sky and land resources across the state.
In a statement Greitens thanked first responders and urged Missourians to remain cautious of rising flood waters.
“Thank you to our first responders for their courageous and capable work to keep Missouri families safe and to protect property,” Greitens said. “Together, we took early action to prepare for this storm, and our pre-staged rescue teams are now executing operations across Missouri. Please stay safe and stay away from rising water. Our outstanding emergency operations team will be working through the night. Their top priority is your safety.”
As of late, 111 evacuations, 136 rescues and 2 confirmed fatalities have been reported. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, 150 roads have been closed statewide. Many of those closures are in southern Missouri. Officials say more road closures are likely to occur in the coming week.
A flash flood warning has been issued in several counties in southeast Missouri including Bollinger, Perry, Scott, Stoddard and Cape Girardeau Counties.
On Sunday, the Cape Girardeau County Commission, the Emergency Operations Director and Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan issued a voluntary evacuation advisory for those in Allenville and residents along the Diversion Channel Headwaters from Bollinger County going into Cape Girardeau County.
Watch video message from the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Officehere.
In a news releaseSheriff Jordan said residents should evacuate now ahead of inclement weather.
“A flash flood warning is in effect for Cape Girardeau County and very little time would be available to evacuate to higher ground,” Jordan said. “The Sheriff’s Swift water rescue team is on standby and staging in the area in the event a full evacuation is necessary.”
City officials in Cape Girardeau expect rising waters to affect the Red Star Neighborhood. The pedestrian and railroad gates to the river wall downtown have already been closed. As the flood stage goes from moderate to major the following streets could be affected in the coming week.
- Water Street at First Street in the low lying area of Red Star
- Main Street at Second Street
- Third Street
- North End Street will be closed at Sloan Creek
- 1400 Block of North Rand
Below is a list of closed routes in southeast Missouri. For statewide closures click here.
Bolinger County
Route H-north of Route 51
Route 91-Castor River Diversion Channel from Route T to Outer 91
Cape Girardeau County
Route A-from Route F to CRD 233 and from CRD 255 to Route U
Route N-from Route U to Route NN and CRD 253 to CRD 254
Route F-at Route A
Route HH-from Route OO to end of state maintenance
Route U-from Route T to Route A
Kingshighway-Route 74 to Castor River Diversion Channel at Scott City
Route 74-Route 25 to CRD 214
Dunklin County
- Route UU-from Route NN to CRD 711/end of state maintenance
Iron County
- Route C-east of Route 49 to west of CRD 424 in Madison County
- Route D
- Route F-at Crane Pond Creek
- Route 143-Route 34 in Wayne County to Route 49 in Iron County
Perry County
Route 61-from CRD 506 to CRD 502
Route E-from CRD 534 to CRD 322
Route A-from Wittenberg to CRD 448
Route B-from Route K to CRD 502
Route AA-between CRD 508/510 and CRD 522
Scott County
Route E-at Commerce
Ste. Genevieve County
- Route J-from Route 61 to Buehler Road
Route 32-from Gisi Road to Siebert Road
Stoddard County
Route M-at Leora; near Route K
Source: Missouri Department of Transportation