Flooding causes $170K in local public damages

Officials with the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management estimate recent public flood damages at $168,500.

The Greene County total comprises impact on public infrastructure, including roads and bridges, debris removal, protective measures such as road barricades, and damages to parks and government buildings, according to a news release.

The OEM received 174 damage reports from Greene County residents related to their homes, properties or businesses, resulting from seven to nine inches of rain that hit the county April 28-May 3. Affected Springfield-area businesses included Rivercut Golf Course, Carson's Nurseries, 160 Grand Prix, Summers At the River, Turners Station Mercantile and Fantastic Caverns. However, officials said advance warning of the flood conditions helped minimize damages.

“This flooding event was certainly significant; however, I think the high quality and continued maintenance of roadways and bridges here in Greene County contributed in large part to the relatively minimal damage reported from this event,” said Larry Woods, interim director of OEM, in the release. “In Greene County, we did not see the historic flooding that many counties throughout the state experienced. For that, we are grateful.”

Comparatively, historic flooding that hit the county in December 2015 caused nearly $1 million in public damages.

The heavy rains that ended April this year caused Gov. Eric Greitens to declare a state of emergency followed by a deployment of the Missouri National Guard.