SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Cleanup got underway Wednesday in portions of southwestern and central Missouri after inches of rain in some areas swelled waterways and lakes, forcing some campers to scramble for higher ground and sheriff’s deputies to rescue people from threatened property.
Some stretches of Missouri’s Ozarks got 6 inches of rain since Tuesday, at times within a matter of three hours, meteorologist Andy Boxell said from the National Weather Service’s office in Springfield.
Around 3,300-resident Cassville in southwest Missouri’s Barry County, restoration efforts were afoot Wednesday, a day after more than a dozen homes and businesses were evacuated and at least eight people were rescued, in some cases by boat. Flooding there toppled fencing at a ball field near downtown.
In the resort town of Branson, a higher-than-normal Lake Taneycomo swamped some campsites at a downtown park.
A respite for much of the region was around the corner, Boxell said. Although widely scattered showers were expected to through Friday, drier weather was forecast for the weekend, with temperatures reaching the low 90s by Sunday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, all of mid-Missouri remained in a flash-flood watch amid predictions that storms could drench the already soggy region with one to 3 inches of more rain.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook
