Hundreds of people were rescued on Friday after torrential rain led to flash flooding in southeastern Missouri, officials said. Among those saved were more than 200 children and camp counselors who were evacuated by helicopters.<\/p>\n
Six to 12 inches of rain fell across the region over a day, totals so uncommon that the National Weather Service called it a once-in-a-thousand-years rainfall event. This amount of rain was \u201cextremely rare\u201d for the area, said Alex Elmore, a meteorologist with the Weather Service office in St. Charles, Mo.<\/p>\n
Flash-flood warnings were issued across the region, with some expected to last into Saturday morning. A flood watch remained in effect through Saturday for parts of Missouri and Illinois. Gov. Mike Kehoe of Missouri declared a state of emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past 24 hours, intense storms have created dangerous flash flooding across several regions of Missouri, resulting in multiple swift-water rescues,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kehoe also activated the Missouri National Guard, which used eight Black Hawk helicopters to evacuate 202 people stranded by floodwaters in a children\u2019s camp in southeastern Missouri along the Black River, his office said in a separate statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sheriff Chuck Helton of Iron County, one of the hardest-hit areas, said that about 100 people had been rescued there and in neighboring Reynolds County. Officials started receiving distress calls at 3 a.m., he said.<\/p>\n There were no reports of injuries or fatalities, Sheriff Helton said. But he said several homes had been destroyed and a few camper vehicles had washed away, adding that the county roads, most of which are gravel, were in \u201cbad shape.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything\u2019s saturated down here,\u201d Sheriff Helton said.<\/p>\n The Weather Service, which used radar data to estimate rainfall totals, found that the highest amounts fell between the towns of Saint James and Coldwater.<\/p>\n Much of the flooding occurred along the Black River, which flows through that area, Sgt. Eddie Young of the Missouri Highway Patrol said in an interview. According to a gauge in the town of Annapolis, the river crested at 28.73 feet at 12:45 p.m., overtaking a record of 27.38 feet set on Nov. 14, 1993.<\/p>\n Many of the roughly 90 people rescued in Reynolds County were living or camping near the river, according to county officials. Among them were 10 to 17 campers staying at the Bearcat Getaway campground who had been standing on a building when it collapsed, pitching them into the water.<\/p>\n Five others who had been reported missing from the Bearcat campground between 7 and 8 a.m. were rescued unharmed on Friday afternoon, according to Steve Chitwood, a floodplain administer for the county.<\/p>\n Many roads remained closed or impassable because of high water, and a road collapsed just east of the Route N-Route 21 junction, Reynolds County officials said in statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n