Thursday's rains caused few major problems

The storms 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 more than 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 — Route W from CC to P, Route A from Chaffee to New Hamburg and Route 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 Friday 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.

MATT SANDERS ~ msanders@semissourian.com Farm fields were flooded Friday along Highway 77 between Chaffee, Mo., and Blomeyer Junction.

"There are a few [county rural] roads that are closed ... 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."

Crashes were reported in several places Thursday. Cape Girardeau police reported several accidents, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported one weather-related accident in Butler County, Mo.

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.

The Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau crested around 37 feet Friday afternoon and was expected to begin a slow fall but remain above flood stage through at least Wednesday, according to National Weather Service forecasts.

And as people around the area continued to recover from the floods of two weeks ago, the state government announced more relief for victims — the Missouri Department of Revenue granted an extension to taxpayers in flooded counties. People in the 35 counties approved for federal assistance now have until May 19 to file and pay most of their taxes.

Rudi Keller and Lindy Bavolek contributed to this report.