More than 200 children and staff members were airlifted from a summer camp in southeastern Missouri after torrential rain washed out roads and left the group stranded by rapidly rising floodwaters.
The evacuation unfolded Friday at Camp Taum Sauk in Lesterville, about 100 miles south of St. Louis. With ground access cut off, Missouri Army National Guard crews used Black Hawk helicopters to carry the campers and employees to a nearby elementary school, where they were reunited with their families.
Roughly half of those evacuated were children. The rest were counselors and other camp staff. No serious injuries were reported at the camp.
The rescue came after a punishing series of thunderstorms dumped between 6 and 12 inches of rain across parts of southeastern Missouri. Rivers and streams rose quickly, roads disappeared beneath the water and emergency crews were dispatched to homes, campgrounds, vehicles and rooftops across the region.
At the Bearcat Getaway campground near the Black River, about 20 people climbed onto a building to escape the flood. The structure later collapsed beneath them under the combined weight and force of the rushing water.
All of them were ultimately rescued, and officials said no major injuries were reported. Three other people trapped in trees along the Black River were also brought to safety.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a state of emergency and activated the state’s emergency operations plan, allowing agencies to coordinate rescue personnel, boats, aircraft and other resources.
Kehoe said hundreds of people had been rescued from floodwaters, trees, rooftops and stranded vehicles.
The danger was not over. Several major roads remained impassable, and the Black River was expected to crest at more than 28 feet near Annapolis—a possible record for the waterway. Additional rain threatened to worsen conditions across already saturated areas.
Two rescue boats reportedly capsized during operations in Reynolds County, but the responders aboard them were safely recovered.
One woman remained missing in Crawford County after a house was swept from its foundation by the floodwaters.
The National Weather Service warned residents and vacationers near rivers, streams and low-lying areas to move to higher ground and avoid flooded roads. Campgrounds and float-trip destinations were considered especially vulnerable because many visitors were unfamiliar with local escape routes and river conditions.
The Camp Taum Sauk evacuation ended without loss of life, thanks to the rapid deployment of National Guard helicopters and local emergency crews.
What began as a summer camp outing became a full-scale air rescue, with Black Hawks ferrying children over washed-out roads and flood-swollen rivers to safety.
