Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters airlifted more than 200 children and staff from a summer camp in southeastern Missouri on Friday after heavy rainfall washed away the roads around them, cutting off every ground route to safety. The dramatic evacuation at Camp Taum Sauk in Lesterville was only one chapter of a flooding emergency that swept across the region, collapsing buildings, stranding campers in trees, and leaving one woman still missing.
Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a state of emergency and activated a state search and rescue team as floodwaters tore through communities south of St. Louis. Late Friday, he said hundreds of people had been pulled from floodwaters, trees, rooftops, and stranded vehicles across the affected area.
The Black River, which runs through some of the hardest-hit territory, continues to rise. Officials expect it to crest at more than 28 feet near Annapolis, a level that would set a record for the waterway. And the storms may not be finished. The Missouri Emergency Management Agency warned that further thunderstorms could still bring additional flash flooding, particularly in areas that already absorbed six to 12 inches of rain.
Camp Taum Sauk sits in a small community in Lesterville, deep in southeastern Missouri's recreation country. When the rain hit Friday, it didn't just flood the camp, it erased the roads leading to it. With no ground evacuation possible, the Army National Guard sent Black Hawk helicopters to ferry the children and staff to a nearby elementary school, where families reunited with them.
The camp posted its gratitude on Instagram late Friday, as the Associated Press reported:
"We are beyond thankful for your help keeping our camp community safe."
No major injuries were reported among the camp evacuees. But the sheer scale of the operation, helicopters shuttling hundreds of young people out of a flood zone, underscores how fast conditions deteriorated across the region Friday.
Roughly 85 miles south of St. Louis, near the Black River, campers at the Bearcat Getaway campground faced a different kind of danger. As floodwaters rose, people climbed onto a building to escape. The structure couldn't hold.
Sgt. Eddie Young of the Missouri State Highway Patrol described what happened:
"Between the weight and the constant waters underneath it, it just gave away on them."
Newsmax reported that approximately 20 people were rescued after the building collapsed under floodwater pressure. The combination of human weight on the roof and relentless water underneath proved too much for the structure.
Missouri has faced other dangerous water emergencies in recent memory, but the scope of Friday's rescues, across multiple counties, involving helicopters, boats, and swift-water teams, stands out.
In Crawford County, about 71 miles southwest of St. Louis, a house was swept from its foundation by the floodwaters. Faith Gregory was inside. She has not been found.
Sgt. Young confirmed Saturday that Gregory remains the only unaccounted missing person in Crawford County. Her family and friends took to social media to say they had resumed their search and urged others to watch for her and her dogs, which were also swept away.
The search for Gregory is a grim reminder that even as rescuers saved hundreds, the flooding's toll may not yet be final.
Emergency responders put themselves directly in harm's way. In Reynolds County, three people were trapped in trees along the Black River and had to be rescued Friday evening. Two rescue boats capsized during operations in the same county. Other emergency personnel recovered the responders safely, the Reynolds County Sheriff's Office confirmed.
The region's geography made the crisis worse. Matt Beitscher, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in St. Louis, pointed out that the affected area draws heavy recreational traffic:
"It's very, very popular place for recreation. So there are campgrounds there. There are float trip locations there. A lot of vulnerable populations that would be susceptible to flash flooding."
Campgrounds, float trips, and summer camps put large numbers of people, many of them children, in low-lying areas along rivers and creeks. When slow-moving thunderstorms stacked on top of one another Friday, those recreation zones became flood zones in hours.
The pattern of severe weather battering the heartland has been relentless this season. Deadly flash floods recently claimed lives across Kentucky and Tennessee, and governors in multiple states have been forced to declare emergencies as storms roll through.
Gov. Kehoe did not hold back in urging residents to stay alert:
"As recovery efforts continue and additional rain is expected, I urge everyone in flood-prone and low-lying areas to stay weather-aware, have multiple ways of receiving alerts, and be ready to take protective action."
The National Weather Service warned that severe weather stretched from the Ozark mountains in southern Missouri eastward into the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys. Several other states face the risk of damaging winds, heavy rainfall, and scattered flash flooding, with some areas potentially seeing impacts into Sunday.
The Missouri Emergency Management Agency noted that while storms were moving south and out of the state, the ground is already saturated. Additional rain on top of six to 12 inches already received could trigger new flooding with little warning.
Kentucky's governor recently declared a state of emergency under similar circumstances, flash flooding that overwhelmed communities before they could react. The pattern repeats across the region: storms hit, water rises faster than anyone expects, and first responders scramble to reach people who had no time to leave.
Credit where it's due: the response Friday saved lives. The Army National Guard moved fast. The Missouri State Highway Patrol coordinated across multiple counties. Local sheriff's deputies launched rescue boats knowing the water was dangerous enough to capsize them. Hundreds of people, including more than 200 children, are alive because responders did their jobs under extreme conditions.
But open questions remain. How many staff members were at Camp Taum Sauk alongside the 200-plus children? Were there injuries at the Bearcat Getaway campground collapse beyond what has been reported? What specific roads remain impassable, and how long will communities be cut off?
And the hardest question: will Faith Gregory be found alive?
When federal disaster aid has been approved for states hit by storms this year, the price tag has run into the hundreds of millions. Missouri's flooding may add to that total as the damage becomes clearer in the days ahead.
For now, the Black River keeps rising. The forecast calls for more rain. And somewhere in Crawford County, a family is still searching.
When the water recedes, Missouri will count the cost. But the fact that more than 200 children made it home to their families Friday night is a testament to the people who flew into the storm instead of waiting for it to pass.
