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| Photo Credit: AP. |
One person was reported dead as heavy flooding prompted by record rainfall spread across the St. Louis area early Tuesday. The flood displaced many people from their homes while first responders began evacuations of many others trapped in their homes.
Several
puppies drowned when a building became flooded at Stray Paws Adoptables, a stray
dog rescue operation in St. Peters, a St. Louis suburb, The Associated Press
reports.
Firefighters
in boats reportedly rescued other dogs from the building. One person died when
a car in St. Louis was found covered in more than 8 feet (2.4 meters) of water.
The rainfall
dropped more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain in parts of St. Charles
County and up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) elsewhere in the St. Louis
metropolitan area, according to The Associated Press.
The rain
started a few hours shortly after midnight but reached about 9 inches (23
centimeters) at Lambert Airport, topping the previous daily record of 6.85
inches set Aug. 20, 1915, when remnants of the Galveston, Texas, hurricane
moved north to St. Louis, according to The Associated Press.
Sections of
interstates 70, 64, 55 and 44 were all closed at various times as water covered
the roadways. Several motorists were
stranded for hours.
Floodwaters enters homes in the city of St. Louis
Floodwaters
entered several houses prompting the fire department to carry out rescue
operations in the city of St. Louis.
Fire Chief
Dennis Jenkerson said at a news conference that many homes suffered significant
damage and some roofs were collapsing under the weight of the water, according to
The Associated Press.
Firefighters
rescued more than 100 people mostly from vehicles that tried to pass through
water-covered roadways across the region.
“We’ve had a
tremendous amount of cars that have been door-deep and also roof-deep in some
of these low-lying areas,” Jenkerson said, according to The Associated Press.
Residents
were forced to evacuate when Deer Creek overflowed in the St. Louis County town
of Brentwood. Rising waters also threatened homes in Ladue.