Gov. Jay Nixon on Sunday declared a state of emergency in Missouri as heavy rain and flooding caused by the winter storm dubbed Goliath swept through the state and caused eight fatalities and damage to area businesses.
The Missouri Ozarks and parts of southeastern Kansas near the Interstate 44 corridor received between 5 and 11 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. This morning, all of southwest Missouri was under a flood or flash flood warning.
Republic Ford Lincoln Inc. Advertising and Marketing Manger Jim Pettyjohn said the Dec. 26 flooding on the dealership’s lots – containing roughly 300 vehicles – at 1740 Highway 60 in Republic left an estimated 103 units totaled.
“It went from approximately 8 to 10 inches deep at 5 p.m., and by 6:30 p.m. that picture you saw is what happened,” Pettyjohn said, referencing a photo on social media of the car lot that shows water nearing window level on several large trucks.
Pettyjohn said the water level rose to at least 3 feet high as rain filled nearby streams and ditches and then flowed through the lot.
He said staff received help from passersby and members of the city’s police and fire departments to move roughly 200 vehicles to higher ground.
“That night it had receded considerably – it came that fast and then disappeared almost completely,” Pettyjohn said. “There’s hardly any water standing anywhere.”
The dealership is open for business today, and Pettyjohn said insurance adjustors are expected to arrive and begin examining the damaged vehicles. He added a leak in a building on the company’s used car lot caused some ceiling tiles to fall, damaging one computer. Pettyjohn said a cost estimate of damages was not yet available.
Tom Meyer, manager of Carson’s Nurseries, 6607 S. Campbell Ave., said the store also is open for business today, after rains and flooding caused little damage to the nursery grounds.
“It came up over the walls, but nothing like we experienced last June,” Meyer said, referencing the June 19 flooding of James River that destroyed plants and some outbuildings, causing between $125,000 and $150,000 in damages, according to
Springfield Business Journal reporting.
“This time of the year, there’s not that much product to wash away, so it didn’t affect much,” Meyer added. “It’s always a pain, but that’s just nature.”
This morning, Highway 123 northwest of Willard, Highway 125 east of Ozark, Highway 76 and Highway 265 in Branson West and Highway 176 in Rockaway Beach had sections closed due to flooding, according to the
Missouri Department of Transportation. The westbound lane of Highway 60 just west of Rogersville and the eastbound lane of Highway 14 east of Clever also were closed.
South and east of Springfield, heavy rain is putting the pressure on lake dams. According to reports from KY3.com, the Mountain Grove Fire Department evacuated some 50 residents due to a potential breach of the Lily Lake Dam and floodgates at the Table Rock Lake Dam near Branson were opened to release 68,000 cubic feet per second of water.
The Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management activated its public information call center at 8 a.m. today, according to a news release.
“Record-breaking flooding has occurred in Greene County with this rain event, and we are still anticipating to receive an additional 2 inches to 4 inches of rainfall before the system moves out of the area,” Director Chet Hunter said in the release. “We want to remind citizens of the extreme danger water-covered roadways present to motorists.
“We would urge citizens, if you don’t have to travel, stay off the roads.”
