Rain, possibly heavy at times, is expected in the Ozarks beginning tonight—in areas already impacted by floodwaters.
"We're generally looking at a widespread one to three inches of rainfall, but the heaviest looks like it's going to be along and north of (I-44) where areas should see two to three inches, maybe isolated higher amounts," said Mike Griffin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Springfield.
The Ozarks saw six to ten inches of rainfall over the weekend with some areas receiving more than a foot. With the ground already completely saturated, Griffin said any additional rainfall will contribute to even more flooding. "One to three inches doesn't seem like much," he said, "but it could cause a lot of impacts for us."
Texas, Howell, Taney, Douglas and Ozark are among the counties impacted the most by the ongoing flooding, he said. A flood warning continues until 9:15 tonight in much of the Ozarks, and, because of the additional rainfall that’s expected, a flash flood watch is in effect late tonight through Thursday morning A flash flood warning is in effect through 12:15 today for southwestern Taney County as water is released from the floodgates at Table Rock Dam.
Griffin warns people to use caution around floodwaters.
"Lots of people underestimate the power of water," he said, "but flowing water is extremely devastating and is also the number one killer when it comes to any severe weather hazards--lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes--flash flooding kills more people than all those other killers combined."
He reminds people not to underestimate the power of water and to “turn around, don’t drown.” It takes just six inches of flowing water to sweep a person off their feet and into floodwaters. It takes about a foot to a foot and a half of flowing water, according to Griffin, to sweep a car into deeper floodwaters.
