St. Louis Drivers Rescued After Flash Floods Hit City

Flash flooding left cars partially-submerged, drivers trapped and highways closed as storms battered parts of Missouri on Sunday.

Fire crews had to rescue people after being called out to at least 15 vehicles that had become trapped in rising waters across the St. Louis area over the course of the evening. Warnings were issued by the National Weather Service, covering much of the region until 9:45 p.m. on Sunday, along with a severe thunderstorm alert in place until 10:00 p.m.

It comes as experts warned that American cities need to brace for severe flooding in the future, even if they are not in coastal regions. Over the past 50 years, the number of reported weather-related disasters has increased fivefold, according to a U.N. report in 2021, which pointed to deadly hurricanes, floods, monsoons and heatwaves around the world.

The floods across St. Louis this weekend affected numerous roads, catching out several motorists.

There were no reports of injuries, but meteorologist Kristen Cornett, who works for local news channel KMOV 4, warned of the potentially-fatal dangers for drivers, tweeting: “Did you know it only takes 12″ of fast moving water to carry away a small car? 18-24″ can carry away most large suvs, vans and trucks. Flash Flooding is the #1 weather killer, and most of those deaths occur in cars.”

The I-55 ground to a standstill around Bayless in both directions, and further along the same highway at Reavis Barracks, while the I-64 at Tamm was also flooded, along with an eastbound section of I-44 at the I-64 in St. Louis City.

And a number of local roads were also hit hard, according to the St. Louis Fire Department which revealed it had been forced to respond to trapped drivers inside vehicles in floods at 15 locations at least, CNN reported. Call-outs saw fire crews attend incidents on streets including South Broadway and River Casino Drive, Manchester and Pierce, and South Vandeventer and Chouteau.

The St. Louis City Emergency Management Agency issued advice for drivers in a bid to prevent cars and occupants being stranded, warning: “Do not drive into standing water on the roadway. Your car will stall. You will need [to be] rescued. You will have to pay for car repairs or a new car. If you see water rising on the road, STOP, turn around, and find another way.”

The rising floods in St. Louis even swamped an apartment complex, as its parking lot filled with water around at least a dozen cars. One resident of the Cedar Creeks Lodge apartments in Olde English Road in South County told KMOV 4 that the water level may have reached as high as 9ft at one point.

Arneil Brooks, who was interviewed on camera, said he had moved his car to safety earlier because “it’s been storming all day” and he knew that the parking lot had flooded last year. But even he was shocked by how high the waters eventually reached by Sunday evening, adding: “The water had to have been probably 8ft or 9ft high. All the cars over here were underwater, and this is probably the worst it’s been since I’ve been here.”

The St. Louis Fire Department was at the scene and some residents were seen being evacuated, KMOV 4 reported, although it was unclear if any of the apartments had been flooded inside.

Newsweek has reached out to the St. Louis Fire Department by email seeking further information and comment.

But as the night went on the storms began to recede, and some time after 10:00 p.m. the NWS St. Louis tweeted: “The Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been canceled for the remainder of our area as the severe weather threat has ended. There remain a few Flash Flood Warnings in effect. Avoid any areas where water covers the road and heed any road closure notices.”

St. Louis is not the only region to have been hit by extreme weather this spring and flash floods have also hit other parts of the country.

In April, cars were submerged in floods in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

While a California lake was flooded for the first time in 110 years when the normally dry Owens Lake in Inyo County suddenly filled with water after heavy rainfall in April. And another dried-out lake also re-emerged in the state when Tulare Lake in San Joaquin Valley suddenly filled up during fierce storms in March.