"We lost just about everything. We are lucky; we have flood insurance," said Andrew Schafer on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, as he sits on a dumpster along Odell Street in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Dumpsters were provided by the city for items damaged by floodwater.
Laurie Skrivan, Post-Dispatch
"We just moved here last week. Everything is ruined," said Reginald Johnson as he cleans out his apartment on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at University Commons Apartments in University City.Â
Laurie Skrivan, Post-Dispatch
"It was parked up at the top of the street, it must of floated down," said Tony Evans, right, who cleans out his friend's car with help from Troy Phillips, left, along Cabanne Avenue on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in University City. Overnight rainfall flooded basements, parking lots and first floor apartments in the complex. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Laurie Skrivan
"We just moved here last week. Everything is ruined," said Reginald Johnson, as he cleans out his apartment on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at University Commons Apartments in University City. His wife said their renter's insurance does not cover flooding. Overnight rainfall flooded basements, parking lots and first floor apartments in the complex. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Laurie Skrivan
Jarius Byrd of Byrd's Moving Services loads bedding into a trailer as he and other workers clear out the flooded basement of a rental house in the 600 block of East Avenue in Ferguson on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.Â
Robert Cohen, Post-Dispatch
Theresa Crumpton helps family friend Ernie Carr remove debris from his flooded basement on Hermitage Avenue in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Â
Laurie Skrivan, Post-Dispatch
Maranita Logan looks out over floodwater on Mary Avenue in East ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Logan's home, where she has lived for more than 40 years, has calf-deep water in it on the first floor.Â
David Carson, Post-Dispatch
Misty Carter and Dustin Deadmond push their stalled SUV out of floodwater along Acordi Drive in Caseyville on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. "I just hope it starts up again" says Deadmond who said the SUV stalled in high water on the street when he was trying to move it out of the flooded neighborhood. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS — The reality of the flood set in for some here on Wednesday. Garbage bags, dumpsters and waterlogged carpets rested on the curbs in the Ellendale neighborhood at the city’s western edge — as they did on so many streets across the region.
Nancy Carr, 74, returned home to totaled cars and a soggy basement. Her family opened windows, started fans and cleared everything out. Rows of bicycles, toys and home equipment were laid neatly on backyard tables. She still didn’t know if insurance would cover any of it.
“I don’t even know where to begin,†she said, tearing up. “I think I’ll make some scrambled eggs.â€
The region’s residents cleaned up on Wednesday from a historic rainstorm. They shoveled out sewage-filled basements, tried to start waterlogged cars and cleared piles of downed tree limbs. Officials emerged, too, touring streets underwater just hours prior, and talking to frustrated residents.
All told, the region got a record 9 inches of rain on Tuesday, smashing the old mark, set in 1915, by 2 inches. Some cities, like St. Peters, recorded almost 13, doubling previous records. Fire departments rescued more than 400 people across the region. Authorities reported the first death, a man in his 60s — who they still hadn’t identified on Wednesday — killed when his car submerged at Skinker Boulevard and Enright Avenue in ºüÀêÊÓƵ near the Delmar Loop.
Around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Barbara Jones of University City was taking stock of her front yard on North Drive. Floodwaters had dumped a strange collection of unknown neighbors’ belongings: a wooden cabinet upended near her driveway; a black rug snaked around a tree; papers and rubbish.
“Not with your hands, Troy!†Jones shouted to a relative who bent over to pick up trash. “That’s germs. That’s sewer stuff.â€
Shoveling out basements
Jones had a game plan: Get gloves and begin the cleanup. She had no way to get to work as a home health care aide — her car wouldn’t start after being swamped in the storm.
North Drive and Cabanne Avenue resembled the final moments of a demolition derby, with cars pushed into yards and knocked around. A truck belonging to the Jones family had floated east a half block. So did an industrial dumpster, which had careened into a parked Nissan sedan.
At the height of Tuesday’s storm, Jones had knee-deep water in her basement. By Wednesday morning, the water had receded and left behind a sticky residue. Jones said she would sort out sopping wet clothing to see what could be salvaged, and toss out a freezer that had its motor destroyed by rising water.
She had been on the phone with her car insurance company, and called FEMA twice already to try to get advice on cleanup. Leaders in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County and Jefferson City declared states of emergency, which could lead to federal aid down the line.
Restoration service crews from other cities were coming to help local franchises. It could take more than a week to get everyone back to normal.
The rainstorms and flooding affected people on a “hurricane-type level, whereas a tornado is more path-driven,†said Justin Wendling, director of business development for Servpro Team Wolfe, a that covers ºüÀêÊÓƵ, the Metro East, Bridgeton and Florissant.
“Sometimes, if there is a big hurricane that hits the coasts, we’ve been known to pack up our semis and go down and help,†he said.
‘I’m scared to death’
Business owners and residents along Main Street in Old Town St. Peters were struggling on Tuesday to come to terms with the magnitude of their flood damage.
At Michael’s Flooring Outlet at 116 Main Street, owner Michael Reynolds, 55, lost hundreds of thousands in inventory and even more in expensive machinery after his storeroom and warehouse flooded with 2 feet of water. With supply chain delays and inflation, he said it was going to be a big hit.
Top five daily rainfall records
Date
Year set
Inches
July 26
2022
9.07
Aug. 20
1915
6.85
May 16
1995
5.59
Dec. 26
2015
4.87
April 11
1979
4.79
“I’m scared to death,†he said, watching his employees cleaning up the warehouse.
Reynolds said he hoped the city or state would come through with some money to help businesses survive. Employers like him provide jobs and work to keep the city thriving, he said. Surely they could pay back the favor.
“We need help,†he said.
Stacy Stelzer, 50, started to cry Wednesday as she thought about having to pick herself up again.
In the past two years, she’d lost a longtime job, dealt with the brutal murder of her daughter and taken over care of her two young grandchildren. On Tuesday, all of her family’s cars were lost. The basement of her rental house flooded. She lost all of her clothes and her beloved Halloween decorations.
Around 11 a.m., a car arrived with bleach, paper towels and other cleaning supplies donated by a local moms group. She said a friend had set up a GoFund Me crowd-funding account for her.
But Stelzer said she still wasn’t sure how she was going to replace the cars or how long it would take to clean up.
“If anybody needs a break,†she said, “It’s me.â€
Forecasters expect more rain to come. The “unsettled weather†here will likely last through Thursday, forecasters said, with several more rounds of showers and thunderstorms.
Erin Heffernan of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
“These were the same storms that caused damage across the river in Missouri,†they told the president.
"We lost just about everything. We are lucky; we have flood insurance," said Andrew Schafer on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, as he sits on a dumpster along Odell Street in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Dumpsters were provided by the city for items damaged by floodwater.
"We just moved here last week. Everything is ruined," said Reginald Johnson as he cleans out his apartment on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at University Commons Apartments in University City.Â
"It was parked up at the top of the street, it must of floated down," said Tony Evans, right, who cleans out his friend's car with help from Troy Phillips, left, along Cabanne Avenue on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in University City. Overnight rainfall flooded basements, parking lots and first floor apartments in the complex. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
"We just moved here last week. Everything is ruined," said Reginald Johnson, as he cleans out his apartment on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at University Commons Apartments in University City. His wife said their renter's insurance does not cover flooding. Overnight rainfall flooded basements, parking lots and first floor apartments in the complex. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Jarius Byrd of Byrd's Moving Services loads bedding into a trailer as he and other workers clear out the flooded basement of a rental house in the 600 block of East Avenue in Ferguson on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.Â
Theresa Crumpton helps family friend Ernie Carr remove debris from his flooded basement on Hermitage Avenue in ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Â
Maranita Logan looks out over floodwater on Mary Avenue in East ºüÀêÊÓƵ on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Logan's home, where she has lived for more than 40 years, has calf-deep water in it on the first floor.Â
Misty Carter and Dustin Deadmond push their stalled SUV out of floodwater along Acordi Drive in Caseyville on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. "I just hope it starts up again" says Deadmond who said the SUV stalled in high water on the street when he was trying to move it out of the flooded neighborhood. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com