Afternoon storms cause flooded roads in Scott County, hail in Cape County

A heavy band of showers that moved through Southeast Missouri between 3 and 5 p.m. dropped hailstones in Jackson and sent water over Interstate 55 south of Scott City, emergency officials reported.

The thunderstorm, which dumped 0.83 inches of rain in a little more than an hour at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, resulted in flash flood warnings for several counties. Route P near Delta was reported flooded, said Mike Niemeier of the Cape Girardeau County Emergency Operations Center.

The Scott County Sheriff's Department notified the Missouri Department of Transportation of the flooded Interstate, said Jordan Heisserer, a dispatcher with the department. Other highways in the county also were having flooding problems and he had no reports on the condition of county roads as of 4:45 p.m.

In Bollinger County, one of the areas hit hardest by the March 18-19 rainstorms, the situation was under control but officials are anxiously watching more storms to the west, emergency operations coordinator Jim Bollinger said. "Right now we are still holding our own. It is what is out west that has got me concerned. That looks like a lot of rain."

Radar estimates from the National Weather Service show that a band of rain from 2 to 2.5 inches has fallen since 9:30 p.m. Wednesday from northern Stoddard County through north-central Scott County across to Alexander County, Ill. The airport gauge has recorded 1.31 inches of rain since midnight.

Sheriff's departments in Alexander and Union counties in Illinois reported no significant flooding problems this afternoon.

A flash flood warning was in effect for several Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois counties until 7:15 p.m.

For updates, check back at www.semissourian.com or read Friday's Southeast Missourian.

State establishes response center in Sikeston

Gov. Matt Blunt announced Thursday evening that a Multi-Agency Coordination Center to help local governments respond to flood emergencies was set up in Sikeston.

The center is staffed by the Missouri State Water Patrol, Missouri State Highway Patrol, State Emergency Management Agency and others, as well as volunteer organizations like the American Red Cross.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be helping those state agencies in flooding response in Missouri, Blunt said in a news release.