Columbia recovers from weekend flooding
Thirty roads in Boone County were closed due to flooding.
Published April 27, 2010
Weekend rain caused one of the most severe cases of flooding the Boone County area has seen in the past couple years, said Zim Schwartze, director of the Emergency Management and Public Safety and Joint Communications offices.
After the flood of 1993 and high water levels in 2007, some of the water levels in and around Boone County this weekend were some of the highest levels in the past 40 years, Schwartze said.
Schwartze also said at one point, about 30 roads were closed because of flooding and 12 roads were still closed as of Monday morning. According to the Boone County Office of Emergency Management, there were still two roads closed because of flooding Monday evening.
"We did have some roads that flooded that usually don't," Schwartze said.
Joint Communications had its hands full over the weekend, having the usual amount of calls nearly double because of the weather. Schwartze said in a normal 24-hour period, the department handles 1,000 calls.
"The operators and supervisors were extremely busy," Schwartze said.
Schwartze also said employees who originally had a day off over the weekend ended up working and assisting those already on staff.
A concern for Joint Communications during the rainy days was Hinkson Creek, along with several other creeks and rivers in Boone County. Schwartze said they were keeping an eye on the high water levels.
"Here in mid-Missouri, there are certain areas that flood if you have a hard rain," Schwartze said.
During the weekend, there was an extended period of heavy rain. Schwartze said there were numerous dispatches to incidents around the county, including nine water rescues and eight electrical hazard incidents, but Schwartze said not all reports dispatched ended up being problematic.
"What we dispatch and what is actually out there is a little bit different," she said.
Columbia Fire Department Capt. Eric Hartman said the department responded to two water rescue calls in Columbia, but neither incident resulted in anything substantial.
"They turned out to be pretty minor," he said.
Schwartze said there were also eight submerged cars in the county, and at one point during the weekend, Joint Communications had to investigate a report of a possible levy-break in McBaine, a city south of Columbia.
"We've had a little bit of everything in the last couple days," she said. "It appears that the vast majority of motorists that were stranded and had problems were out in the county areas, as those roads are often the areas that flood."
According to a Joint Communications news release issued in March during Flood Safety Awareness Week, figures from the National Weather Service stated 18 people have died in flood events in Missouri in the past five years. Most deaths attributed to flooding occur in vehicles when a driver attempts to cross a water-covered roadway, the news release stated.