Missouri flooding: Four-Year-Old Boy Dead; Mother Missing

A four-year-old boy was drowned and a woman thought to be his mother was missing after flash flooding in central Missouri.

Sergeant Dan Crain, a spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol in Rolla, said, “It appears they were washed out of their vehicle when it was swept from a small tributary into a larger creek.” He added that the vehicle had now been found.

The identities of the boy and woman were not released. Authorities said they had been swept off a county road in their car on Tuesday and a search for them was underway near Waynesville, Missouri.

Heavy rain from late Monday through Wednesday morning caused major flooding in and near Waynesville, about 130 miles southwest of St. Louis. The authorities ordered the evacuations of some homes and buildings.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency on Tuesday. On Wednesday he sent 50 military police from the Missouri National Guard to help protect property in flooded areas.

The Missouri Department of Transportation said that rains caused a rapid rise in the Gasconade River, flooding parts of Interstate 44 leading to parts of the highway being closed.

This Missouri flooding is yet another example of the apparent changes in climate that have resulted in so many other flooding incidents this year.

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