News - Historic flooding in St. Louis kills at least 1, strands others

Torrential downpours sparked flash flooding in St. Louis and surrounding areas Tuesday, killing at least one person and stranding residents in their cars and homes as the rainfall shattered a record set more than a century ago.

The city had received more than 9 inches of rain by the afternoon, the most ever recorded there in a calendar day and about 2 inches more than the record of about 7 inches set in August 1915, when remnants of a hurricane that came ashore in Galveston, Tex., passed through the area.

In six hours, 7.68 inches of rain fell in St. Louis — an event with less than a 1 in 1,000 chance of occurring in a given year, according to the National Weather Service. Some areas northwest of the city saw rainfall totals up to a foot.

Firefighters had responded to about 70 rescues by late Tuesday morning, St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson told reporters. On one block in the western part of the city, the fire department said, it had used an inflatable boat to rescue six people and six dogs trapped in about 18 homes amid severe flooding. About 15 people chose to shelter in place.

Around 10 a.m., a person’s body was pulled out of a car that had been covered by about 8½ feet of floodwater, Jenkerson said. He said the incident was under investigation, and he did not provide additional details.

Although floodwaters were receding Tuesday afternoon, Jenkerson said the water’s weight had caused some roofs to partially collapse. He called the property damage “significant.”