Ft. Leonard Wood soldiers killed in Missouri flooding

Jay Nixon reported at least 13 people are dead in connection with continuous flooding in Missouri and neighboring Kansas.The governor mentioned during a press conference Monday recovery efforts were underway for three people killed after their vehicles were swept away by floodwaters. He said Monday morning that he’d been sitting on the icy interstate since 8 p.m. Sunday and that “everybody’s just sleeping in their cars”.

The department said early Monday morning Interstates 40 and 27 were closed and that travelers should expect long delays across the region. More than 280 state roads were closed, though Interstate 70 in St. Charles County, closed since Sunday, reopened Monday afternoon. Flight-tracking service FlightAware showed that more than a third of the cancellations were at Chicago’s two main airports.

“Widespread flooding and continued rainfall are causing very unsafe conditions across much of central and southern Missouri”, Gov. Nixon said. The combination of rain-filled clouds and plummeting temperatures meant a “life-threatening and crippling blizzard” was headed toward the Texas panhandle, the National Weather Service said.

In southwest Missouri, the Missouri State Highway Patrol told KYTV that authorities recovered the body of a driver from a creek in northern Greene County on Sunday.

A range of precipitation was forecast Monday for the country’s midsection, including heavy snow, ice and blustery winds in parts of 11 states and heavy rain in already-waterlogged parts of Missouri and Arkansas.

Fifty flood warnings and 30 flash flood watches are in effect from the Plains to the Carolinas, according to forecasters. The nine who drowned died because they drove into flooded roads.

Nixon says thirteen flood-related deaths have now been confirmed in Missouri.

The state of emergency focuses on south and central Missouri, but also points to snow and freezing rain in northern parts of the state.

Snow accumulations of 5 to 13 inches – with drifts to 10 feet – were likely in some areas of west and north Texas, southeast New Mexico and the Oklahoma panhandle.