Missouri Flash Floods

Beginning the night of July 9 and continuing through July 10, 2026, a slow-moving thunderstorm complex parked over the Ozark foothills of southeastern Missouri and dropped 8 to 12 inches of rain in a matter of hours — a rainfall total the National Weather Service classified as a 1-in-1,000-year event. The Black River in Reynolds County rose out of its banks in the middle of the night, filling homes and campgrounds with several feet of water and forcing families to flee in the dark for higher ground. The NWS issued a rare Flash Flood Emergency for parts of Reynolds, Iron and Crawford counties.

By Friday evening, first responders had performed more than 351 water rescues across the three-county emergency area, including the airlift of roughly 200 children and staff from Camp Taum Sauk after Missouri National Guard Black Hawk helicopters were dispatched to pluck evacuees from the flooded valley. A campground building along the Black River collapsed into the floodwaters with people inside; several were rescued and others remained unaccounted for. In Crawford County, 60-year-old Faith Gregory was found dead about two miles downstream from her home along Huzzah Creek, and as of Saturday morning at least six people remained missing. Missouri Route 21 was closed by four-to-five-foot-deep water in the Hogan area, isolating communities across the region.

Governor Mike Kehoe signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency and activated Missouri Task Force 1 — a 50-member urban search-and-rescue team with swiftwater boats and specialized equipment. The American Red Cross opened emergency shelters at the First Assembly of God Church in Centerville and set up a joint command post with The Salvation Army at Arcadia Valley High School, providing meals, cots, hydration, showers and cleanup kits from a staging site in Ironton. Additional heavy rain is in the forecast for the region, and officials warned that the Black River and its tributaries would remain in flood stage for days.