Missouri camp airlifts 200 people to safety amid flooding

Missouri Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters airlifted more than 200 children and staff from Camp Taum Sauk in Lesterville on Friday after torrential rain cut off road access and turned the camp into one of the state’s most urgent rescues. Roughly half of those evacuated were children, with the rest counselors and staff, and no serious injuries were reported at the camp, which sits about 100 miles south of St. Louis.

The evacuation came as heavy rain pounded southeastern Missouri with totals of 6 to 12 inches, flooding roads and leaving many of them impassable. Flash flooding also trapped hundreds of people in rural southeastern Missouri along the Black River, showing how quickly the same storm system pushed multiple communities into crisis.

Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a state of emergency on Friday as flooding spread across central, south-central and southeastern Missouri. By Saturday, one person remained missing as storms and flash-flood warnings continued across parts of the Midwest, while state and local crews were still carrying out rescues in several counties.

The camp airlift was only one part of the response. More than 350 rescues were reported across three Missouri counties, and emergency crews in Reynolds County rescued about 20 people after a campground building collapsed into floodwaters and those inside moved onto the roof. Boone County Fire Protection District also deployed specialty teams for flood response, underscoring how local departments were being pulled into a widening emergency that stretched from campgrounds to rural roads.

The scene in Missouri reflected the growing danger of severe rain falling over already vulnerable terrain. Roads washed out, water rose fast, and helicopter access became the difference between delay and escape for campers cut off by floodwater. For families sending children to summer camps in flood-prone regions, the rescues in Lesterville and Reynolds County showed how quickly a storm can force authorities to shift from warning to large-scale evacuation, and how much now depends on whether ground routes remain open long enough for people to get out.