Eureka and Metro West fire protection districts rescued a 19-year-old woman who became stranded in her car near Radcliff Place Drive and Hwy. 109 in Wildwood on Tuesday, July 9.
Deputy Chief William Stamberger said Eureka Fire was called to the scene at 1:30 p.m. to assist the woman in getting safely out of her car.
“She hydroplaned or skidded off the road and ended up in a flooded ditch,” Stamberger said. “We had two swift-water technicians who got into wet suits and assisted the girl out of the car and onto high ground.”
Stamberger said the woman was uninjured. Eureka Fire and Metro West crews cleared the scene at 2:12 p.m., he said.
Heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday have led to rising water levels in creeks and tributaries for the Meramec and Big Rivers. Stamberger said while drainage ditches and creeks were filling up fast during the heavy rains, he did not know of any blocked roads in the Eureka area.
The City of Eureka will pick up storm debris from residents on Friday, Aug. 2. According to a recent release, the Public Works Department will collect any branches or yard waste from the recent storms placed on the curb, away from mailboxes and utility boxes. The release says to leave the debris in loose piles and to not bag the debris or tie up branches.
The heavy rains are the result of Tropical Storm Beryl making landfall in Texas as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday morning. The rain continued throughout the area Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.
Flash flooding on Monday evening trapped children and adults at a daycare facility in House Springs and forced some residents in a nearby mobile home park to evacuate, High Ridge Fire Protection District Chief John Barton said.
Valley Middle School and an administrative building in the Northwest R-1 School District also were affected by flash flooding, as was a neighborhood off Seckman Road in Imperial, officials reported.
Cedar Hill Fire Protection District Chief Mick Fischer estimated the House Springs area saw 4 to 6 inches of rain within 30 minutes on Monday
Barton said High Ridge Fire crews were out evacuating people from subdivisions near Hwy. 30 and Hwy. MM at about 4:30 p.m. Monday when Big River tributaries rapidly rose during the sudden downpour.
“It’s pretty significant flooding,” Barton said Tuesday. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen in our district. There were places flooded (Monday) that I’ve never seen flooded before. It was fast-rising water. The ground was saturated. The water came up really fast and caught a lot of people off guard.”