Is MPSIMS the place for posts about disasters?
Anyway Thursday night into Friday morning parts of Southeastern Missouri, particularly parts of Iron and Reynolds Counties, endured severe flash flooding due to hours of torrential rains. The area sits at the top of the Missouri Ozarks, so low-lying areas had no chance. To make matters worse, it’s the height of tourist season, meaning riverside campgrounds were packed with visitors in town for canoeing and kayaking.
My nephew and his wife were two such campers. Fortunately they were able to evacuate and drive home. Other campgrounds, including a couple with dozens of children, weren’t so lucky. I’ve seen photos of kids in life jackets sitting on top of cars as the waters were inching up around them. Fortunately they were all rescued.
Meanwhile the town of Davisville, just a few miles from me, is gone. Everything washed down the river. At least one person (a Davisville woman) has died, and several others missing last I heard. Bridges are out all over the place.
Mrs. H and I are fine. Our electricity has been out since 0330 Friday and we’ve been sheltering at her mom’s. Our electricity utility expects our power to be restored by tonight. The extent of our loss is a fridge of rotten food and some cats whose routine has been disrupted.
This is far from the worst natural disaster that I’ve lived through (that would be the Springfield tornadoes of 2006) but this has certainly been rough for quite a few people.