'The whole town of Eminence is devastated'
Lynett Peters had a stack of envelopes behind her desk Friday afternoon filled with deposits she had to return.
No one is staying at the River's Edge resort in Eminence, Missouri, this week.
Peters and her husband, Alan, have owned the resort on the banks of the Jacks Fork River in southern Missouri for 31 years, and they say they've never seen flooding like this.
The river got up to a record 28 feet last weekend, filling several of her rooms with water and sweeping a whole row of cabins downstream. As of Friday, Peters had no idea where the cabins landed.
"The whole town of Eminence is devastated," Peters said.
Heavy rains led to record flooding across Missouri this past weekend. Officials say six people in the state died as a result of the floods.
On Friday, many in Missouri were in the midst of what will be a lengthy cleanup process, while others in the southeastern part of the state were preparing for new dangers.
Capt. John Hotz with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said that with the rivers flowing eastward and some additional rains this week, there is a risk of more flooding in the southeastern part of the state.
"We encourage everyone to be careful around any kind of water," Hotz said Friday. "Conditions are still dangerous out there."
Near Piedmont in southeast Missouri, water from Clearwater Lake was flowing down its emergency spillway for the first time ever this week.
What is normally a grassy slope on the side of Highway HH near the border between Wayne and Reynolds counties looked more like Class 5 rapids on Friday afternoon.
The roadway was destroyed as water from the lake roared down the hillside.
A park ranger on scene said authorities had to block the road on the other side of the dam to keep people from driving up and gawking at the rushing water.
Brian Jamieson lives in a subdivision near the base of the dam. He said water was getting into his neighborhood Friday, and he is hoping it does not reach his home.
He's spent this week monitoring the water levels and trying to move his valuables to a safe storage space.
"But there's no way you can move everything," Jamieson said.
He said he's been told several times this week that the water level had crested, but it keeps rising.
If the water gets any higher this weekend, Jamieson said he's not sure what will happen.
"Nobody knows what will happen," Jamieson said. "We'll be up here again tomorrow, and every day."
Jamieson said he doesn't have flood insurance.
Back in Eminence, resort owner Peters doesn't have insurance either.
It's not fun sending checks back during what should be one of the busiest weeks of the year, but she said she was thankful for the high school students helping with the cleanup, and she plans to rebuild.
"We're just kind of living day by day and putting our faith in Christ that he's going to take care of us," Peters said. "We're not worrying about the future."
The flooding also affected other nearby states. In Arkansas, the National Weather Service reported that floodwaters from the Black River had spread out about 6 miles wide through the city of Pocahontas this week.
FESTIVAL GOES ON
Despite the damage, the town of Eminence is still holding its annual Ozark Mountain Festival on Saturday, May 6. This year's event will be a fundraiser for those affected by the flood disaster, wherever the need may be.
Celebrate Ozarks culture with live music, games and demonstrations, a car show and more. Booths open at demonstrations begin at 9 a.m., and a live charity auction is at 10 a.m. Some booths will be open until 7 p.m.
VOLUNTEER CLEANUP
A volunteer group is organizing a cleanup effort May 17 in Eminence. Volunteers will meet at the front gate of Cross Country Trail Ride in Eminence at 8:20 a.m. May 17. The task is to remove the roof tin from the demolished horse stall barns and stack it up. Volunteers need to be appropriately dressed for the "muck," wear leather gloves and bring hand/power tools to remove nails, i.e. hammers, Sawzalls, chain saws, etc. Lunch and dinner will be provided.
Check https://www.facebook.com/groups/MissouriScenicRivers/ for additional information on the flooding, cleanup efforts and fundraising.