Flooding claims high school senior
ST. LOUIS (AP) – The death of a high school senior was blamed on flooding in southern Missouri, where a search was under way for a second teen-ager who apparently jumped into a rain-swollen river on a dare. Flash floods, including the one that swept the teen-ager to her death Wednesday, hit the region as heavy rain pushed rivers and creeks beyond their banks.
Up to 4 inches of rain, following other heavy storms in recent days, drenched southeast Missouri during the 24-hour period ending Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said.
In southwest Missouri, a 17-year-old girl was killed when she got out of her stalled car late Tuesday and was pushed under the vehicle by rushing water, officials said.
In Lincoln County, about 50 miles north of St. Louis, rescue workers were searching Wednesday for a 19-year-old who was among three men who jumped into the Cuivre River on a dare Monday night.
The other two got out of the fast-moving water safely.
Heavy rain also swelled creeks and rivers in central Illinois. Officials were stacking sandbags Wednesday to protect the Riverton utility plant from the rising Sangamon River. More rain was in the forecast.
“The ground is like a sponge that is completely saturated with water and there isn’t any room for more,” warned Gladys P. Winterrood, public affairs officer at the Effingham County Sheriff’s Department.
Dean Gowin, owner of Lefty’s Holler tavern, said floodwaters ripped the front door off his building.
“We have the only swim-up bar in Coles County,” he said.
Farther east, National Guard troops aided the cleanup of mud and debris left by recent widespread flooding in the central Appalachians.
In yards across West Virginia’s McDowell County, hardest hit by the floods, signs read: “God bless the National Guard” and “Thanks, Guard.”
Since last week, nine deaths have been blamed on flooding in West Virginia; four people are missing. Two people were killed in Virginia.
One man was missing and presumed drowned in Kentucky.