Two people have been found dead inside their submerged vehicles after apparently driving through flood waters in Butler County.
At 8:35 a.m. this morning, Butler County Coroner Andy Moore, pronounced a woman dead. Her name is being withheld pending notification of her next of kin.
The woman's body, he said, was found inside her vehicle, which was submerged in a ditch on Highway 158 near Homestead Lane.
Fewer than 12 hours earlier, 60-year-old Kevin Compton of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was pronounced dead, Moore said.
Compton also had been found inside his submerged vehicle after it was washed off Highway 53, about one to two miles north of Highway HH, Moore said.
On Monday night, Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott said, troopers had a report of about four cars in the water in the Highway 53 and Highway HH area to check on.
"One was unoccupied; one had the deceased in it," Parrott said.
Troopers, he said, responded to Highway 53 several times Monday.
"That road closed yesterday morning; we were down there several times having to get people," Parrott said.
When a road, such as Highway 53, is closed that "does not mean to drive around the barricade or think if you live in there, you can navigate it.
"When the road is closed, people need to stay off of it."
Both Moore and Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs agreed.
"It's not worth crossing; this is two examples of why you should not cross a roadway with water over it," Moore said. "Unfortunately, it has effected two Butler County families."
Dobbs said he doesn't understand why motorists drive into flood waters.
"They can't see under the water, but they do it any way," said Dobbs, who was out checking on the flooded roads this morning.
According to Dobbs, the area of Highway 53 and County Road 309 had receded a little bit.
"It's not running over the highway now," Dobbs said.
While the water slightly is receding, "I don't know of a whole lot (of roads) opening, changing or getting better anytime soon," Dobbs said. "They are all under water, and they are going to be for a while."
Several of the roads in northern Butler County, Dobbs said, now are passable, but are "heavily damaged."
If the road number is in the 200s, 300s or 600s, "there's a good chance it's going to have water over it."
Flood waters in Doniphan, Mo., and Van Buren, Mo., also are receding.
The Highway 160 bridge remains closed; however, the water has receded to the point it is no longer flowing across the highway, said Ripley County Sheriff Mike Barton.
"The bridge is still closed until (Missouri Department of Transportation officials) can inspect it today," Barton said. "Then, they'll let us know whether it can be opened or not. We won't know until they inspect it."
Flood waters, according to the sheriff, have never flowed over the bridge.
"It's touched the bottom, but not (gone) over it," he said. "The record high on record is 1904, and it got to 26 feet.
"This year, it got to 33 feet ... a new record high."
Barton said Highway Y, which runs beside McDonalds, in Doniphan and Highway A, which runs on the west side of the river off of Highway 51 remain closed.
"Every county road on the east and west side of the river, where the river backs up" are closed, Barton said.
Officials, he said, hope by the end of today the river will have receded to the point "where the road will be opened."
The water has receded in "the whole city of Van Buren," said Carter County Sheriff Rick Stephens, who indicated Highway 60, Highway M and Highway D have reopened.
Access to the downtown area, he said, is limited to those living there and emergency responders.
Stephens asked everyone to refrain from "sightseeing" in Van Buren, and for "people to patiently understand" that while there is an "interest in observing and documenting the flood, right now our main concern is the safety of people and property and recovery.
"They need to please not come to the area unless they are residents of the area."
Stephens said there are still certain areas that have water over the roadway, including Highway 103 at Big Spring, Stephens said.
County Roads are "opening up as we can," Stephens said.
Several roads in Wayne County, including portions of Highway 143 to Sam A. Baker State Park, Highway 34 to Piedmont, Mo., and Highway HH to Clearwater Lake, remain closed, said Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch, who believes this is the first time Highway HH has been closed due to flooding at the lake.
"Then, of course, T Highway at Wappapello" is closed, Finch said. "It's my understanding (the floodwaters) took the road out again."
Highway T, Parrott said, was closed Monday.
"The water came over the spillway yesterday morning, then filled the basin" and then started over the road, Parrott said. "It went over sometime yesterday evening."
Finch said northbound and southbound U.S. 67 is reduced to one lane in two spots in Wayne County.
"Most of the roads are open around Clearwater; its more around the St. Francis (River) that are closed," Finch said.
This year's flooding and road closures, according to Parrott, has been more widespread than in 2011.
"Back in 2011, Doniphan was not effected as it is today," Parrott said. "In 2011, the story was south Poplar Bluff and Wappapello.
"This one, it's still south Poplar Bluff and Wappapello," as well as Doniphan and Van Buren.
"Van Buren and Doniphan, their business districts are completely flooded," Parrott said.
The road closures in Poplar Bluff primarily have been limited to the south end.
About a one-block area between Park Avenue and Sixth Street, as well as a section of South Riverview, between B and D streets, remained closed this morning, said Poplar Bluff Deputy Police Chief Donnie Trout.
Ditch Road, he said, also remains closed from Park Avenue to Highway 53.
Trout said that street was closed due to the "water being on the wall and most of the area is evacuated.
"We're just trying to limit traffic."
The Bartlett Street bridge, which crosses Black River, reopened at about 8 a.m., Trout said.
When the remaining streets reopen, he said, depends on what the river does.
They could remain closed through the end of the week or weekend if the river "starts coming back up," Trout said. "It was 22 feet at its highest point yesterday."