Wet Suburbia

The intersection of Interstate 44 and State Highway 141 in suburban Valley Park always goes under water in the heaviest rains. The Meramec River, mentioned earlier in this series, is a short distance behind the Interstate. 141 runs down into a trough that is badly engineered and fills up from time to time. However, I can never remember 44, a major road, being closed by flooding. Part of it to the left of the frame runs low and next to the river. It was awash a few days ago.

The peak was on Thursday, December 31. These pictures were taken on Saturday, when the water level was much lower.                   

Land's End

More from Valley Park last weekend. I chose the top picture just because I like the color and graphic quality. Below, a Missouri Highway Department employee works on the sandbagging crew along I 44. The bottom picture is lands end, the point on State Highway 141 where you could go no further.

Several commenters expressed concern for our area and for my home, for which I thank you. The photos are dramatic but the flood affected only a very small portion of the metropolitan area. We are partly surrounded by two huge rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi. They came close but did not spill over. Although hardly a creek, the Meramac is a much smaller river in the southwest and southern suburbs, flowing into the Mississippi. Only the low lying areas along this river that were not protected by a levee had problems. These pictures were all taken last Saturday afternoon. By Monday morning rush hour, the water had dropped greatly and Highway 141 was open again. Even the traffic lights were working. Good photography subject, though.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series (Damp Division)