Rains, hail pound Bluff area

Daily American Republic

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Water was everywhere.

Tractor-trailer drivers couldn't see the road, a family was evacuated from its home and more than a dozen vehicles stalled out as much of the Poplar Bluff area was flooded.

Heavy rains Wednesday, and hail the size of small ice cubes were reported in south Poplar Bluff.

"We had more surface water in South Poplar Bluff and the East Side than we've had since December 1982," said street superintendent Gene Brannum. "This is the second time in my 43-year career I've seen water running across Ditch Road. It was four inches deep for about an hour and a half."

Fifteen members from the street department worked through the night, putting up about 100 barricades to block streets and areas where shoulders and ditches were washed out.

On the city's north side there was severe erosion. Brannum said the street department's rain gauge recorded five inches.

Spencer Shain, emergency management director, said, "Water was up to twelve inches deep across Township Line Road in a couple of places."

The Nordyne company's parking lot in the industrial park was flooded, Shain said, and there were two cars partially submerged on County Road 314.

"There was a lot of water everywhere," said Steve Rushin, owner of Rushin Towing. "There were two tractor-trailer trucks off in the ditch by the industrial park. They couldn't see the road for the water."

At about 8:30 p.m., Buck and Reva Andrews were evacuated from their mobile home by emergency management personnel after floodwater tore out the home's underpinning and knocked out their electricity.