Greene County business damage light after heavy rains

Last edited 9:21 a.m., May 10, 2017

April closed with severe weather in Missouri, putting some area businesses at least partially underwater. However, advance warning of the flood conditions helped stem the tide, officials say.

Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Erin Hedlun said Greene County experienced close to 5 inches of rain over the weekend. The flooding largely in southern Missouri caused Gov. Eric Greitens to declare a state of emergency Saturday, followed by a deployment of the Missouri National Guard on Sunday. Emergency personnel performed over 110 evacuations and more than 135 rescue operations, and at least three people are confirmed dead in Missouri, according to the governor’s office. Some areas reportedly received as much as 40 feet of flooding as rivers surged.

“Our courageous and capable first responders have operated in dangerous conditions throughout the weekend and saved hundreds of lives,” Greteins said in a news release this morning announcing he’ll visit affected areas in Neosho and West Plains. “More bad weather and more floods are on their way.”

In Greene County, a damage assessment isn’t complete, Hedlun said.

“So far, only a handful of damage reports have been phoned in to our office,” she said via email, noting OEM is setting up a disaster hotline number to collect reports.

Still, flooding south of Springfield adversely affected Rivercut Golf Course, Carson's Nurseries and 160 Grand Prix, among others.

The golf course, operated by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board at 2850 W. Farm Road 190, prepared ahead of the rain by deploying sandbags and relocating maintenance equipment.

According to a news release, flood waters from the James River covered Rivercut’s front nine holes and much of its parking lot Saturday. It also surrounded the Connie Morris Golf Learning Center and entered the maintenance building.

Officials are waiting for the river to return to its banks before issuing a damage report. The course is closed this week, and two scheduled tournaments have been moved to the Bill & Payne Stewart Golf Course.

Four miles southeast of Rivercut, Carson's Nurseries also was hit, leading to flooded greenhouses and the washing away of driveways.

Henry McCormick, landscape supervisor for the 6607 S. Campbell Ave. business, said plants were moved ahead of time to higher land.

“As of right now, we haven’t had any major plant losses or damage to facilities,” he said, noting the flooding has cost the business “quite a bit of labor.”

McCormick said Carson's should be fully functional by day’s end.

Just south of Carson’s, McCormick observed flooding at 160 Grand Prix, where he estimated half of the go-kart course had water on it.

Summers At the River and Turners Station Mercantile also were affected.

Outside of Springfield, flooding set a net record in Christian County, according to the Christian County Headliner News. Ozark businesses including the Golden Dragon and a nearby school building dealt with flooding conditions.

Despite over 10 inches of rain in Nixa, the city was “relatively unscathed,” said spokesman Drew Douglas.

“We had relatively minor affects to city property, but we can’t speak to any damage to private property within the city,” he said via email. “Our public works director says electric, streets and water departments all weathered the storms pretty well.”