FLOODWATER TRAPS DRIVER; WHITEWATER COVERS ROAD NEAR BURFORDVILLE

Floodwaters on a Cape Girardeau County road trapped a rural Marble Hill woman in her station wagon shortly before noon Tuesday.

Personnel from the Missouri Conservation Department, the Millersville Fire Department and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department responded.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan said the woman was rescued. No one was injured, Jordan said.

A Millersville Fire Department truck became stuck in a ditch at the scene.

Verla Crites of Marble Hill Route 1 had attempted to drive through a flooded section of County Road 351 west of Burfordville. The gravel road was covered by water from nearby Whitewater River.

"The vehicle drowned out and she couldn't go anywhere," Jordan said.

A passing motorist notified authorities.

"It's an experience I'll never forget, but it was no fun," said Crites. "I'm scared to go through water and I don't know why I did. I should have backed up and turned around."

The flash-flood on the Whitewater was an isolated incident, authorities said. Cape Girardeau police reported no flooding problems Tuesday.

But Jordan said most streams in the area were close to overflowing from the recent rain. The wet weather has left the ground saturated, flooding low-lying fields, Jordan said.

Widespread flooding could result if the area gets 1.6 inches or more in a three-hour period, the National Weather Service said. In the past two days the region has received 2.68 inches of rain.

The forecast calls for better weather.

"Luckily, we probably are not going to have another big rain event," said meteorologist Ryan Presley of the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Ky.

The area could see some drizzle today and tonight, but the rain is expected to move out by the weekend. The forecast is for partly sunny skies on Sunday and temperatures approaching 60 degrees.

The wet weather hasn't posed a problem along the Mississippi River. The river stood at 23.3 feet on the gauge at Cape Girardeau Tuesday morning, down a foot from Monday. The river is expected to continue to fall today and Thursday.

The river should level off Friday at 22.2 feet on the gauge, Presley said. That is about 10 feet below flood stage.

Presley said there is less chance of flooding along the Mississippi this spring because snowfall has been below usual amounts in the upper Mississippi River valley.