When a submerged power line became tangled in the motor of their rescue boat on the Black River last Friday, two Missouri state troopers found themselves on a stalled, and sinking, vessel.
"Within about two seconds it was apparent that the boat was going to be a loss and they had to enter the water to try to self-rescue themselves," Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Eddie Young said. "It was definitely one of the most scary situations that they've ever been in in their long careers."
It was one harrowing experience among many that played out on July 10 in parts of southeast Missouri. Last week, extreme rainfall and flash flooding stranded hundreds of people and killed a woman in Crawford County. As much as 14 inches of rain fell in parts of Reynolds and Iron counties. The highway patrol was the one of the first agencies to arrive on scene and played a major role in the multiagency rescue effort that brought 361 people to safety.
The Black River is typically calm and clear, making it a popular spot to camp and swim. But on Friday, the highway patrol's flow meter maxed out at 111,000 gallons per second.
"To put in perspective," said Young, "it basically [had] the same amount of water that the Mississippi [was] flowing, but just through a narrower area."
After Sgts. Jonathan Roberts and Logan Monahan were forced into the floodwaters, they tried to stay together, floating downstream until they came upon an RV camper that broke the current. They managed to pull themselves onto a partly submerged vehicle. They hung on until another water patrol boat arrived.
Then, they headed back out.
"When time is of the essence, we don't have time to say, 'Boy, that was a rough day, go home,'" Young said. "It's commendable that those gentlemen went right back to doing what they needed to do to get people safely home."
The affected areas are full of steep cliffs and low-lying valleys. Many of the residents and campers who were rescued that day were found on trees, structures and buildings.
As Julie Zuick watched the weather report from her home in Ladue, she became concerned about her son in Lesterville at Camp Taum Sauk.
"It seems like the camp did a really good job of making sure that the kids stayed calm and didn't know how much danger they were actually in," she said.
Still, Zuick considered driving to pick her son up on Friday morning.
"We realized that the roads were closed, and we were like, 'Oh, this is not good.' So then I posted something online, and I said, 'Well, who has a helicopter that can go rescue my kid from camp?' I certainly didn't expect that rescue helicopter to be the National Guard."
The Missouri National Guard sent eight Black Hawk helicopters to fly more than 200 children and counselors to safety at a nearby elementary school.
"For them to be nice, engaging, helpful and brave for our kids is really something we will appreciate forever," Zuick said. "A bunch of teenage boys riding in a Black Hawk helicopter thought it was pretty much the coolest thing they've ever done."
To learn more about last week's storm, including how the Missouri State Highway Patrol and National Guard train for extreme weather events, listen to "St. Louis on the Air" on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
"St. Louis on the Air" brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Layla Halilbasic is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
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