Rains flood roads in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois

The rains that moved through the Cape Girardeau area Thursday and into early Friday morning dumped 3.92 inches of rain on the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and about 3 inches of rain downtown.

But the downpours didn't cause the major flooding problems associated with the record-breaking rains that hit the area a little over two weeks ago, local emergency response agencies reported.

In Cape Girardeau, Scott and northern Stoddard counties, flooding caused the closure of some roads. In northern Stoddard County, a dispatcher with the county sheriff's office reported several roads closed and bridges washed out.

In northern Scott County, fields around Chaffee that were starting to dry out were again covered in water. Several roads — Highway W from CC to P, Highway A from Chaffee to New Hamburg and Highway EE between Chaffee and Delta had water over them, said Bridget Heffner, a dispatcher with the Scott County Sheriff's Department.

Alexander County, Ill., had several roads underwater as of this morning, said Marty Nicholson with the Cairo Police Department. There are also reports of a woman who had to be rescued from floodwaters Thursday night in Olive Branch, Ill.

In Bollinger County, Jim Bollinger, emergency operations coordinator, said "we're in pretty good shape." Bollinger said the county only received about two inches of rain.

Despite a lot of rain, Cape Girardeau County was largely spared major problems, said Richard Knaup, county director of emergency operations.

"There are a few roads that are closed on county rural roads where some fields got standing water," Knaup said. "No major arteries are closed and there was no critical flash flooding that displaced any individuals. It was just a typical heavy thundershower."

The hardest hit areas were southern Cape Girardeau County, northern Scott, Stoddard and Butler counties in Missouri and several counties, including Alexander, in Southern Illinois, according to National Weather Service rainfall maps.

Rudi Keller and Lindy Bavolek contributed to this report.