Flash flooding in Missouri kills five people, including two poll workers

A couple in their 70s who worked as poll workers were among at least five people killed in Missouri after torrential rains caused flash flooding across the state.

Parts of Missouri received up to 8 inches of rain in two days, causing widespread flooding and dozens of water rescues. It was part of a storm system that also spawned tornadoes in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

In Wright County, Missouri, a county of about 19,000 residents 210 miles southeast of Kansas City, a 70-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman were in a vehicle swept away by flooding in Beaver Creek around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday was , state police said. The Manes, Missouri, couple’s bodies were found more than four hours later.

Wright County Clerk Loni Pedersen confirmed that both people who died were poll workers.

“This is a tragic loss for Wright County,” Pedersen said in an email. “They were committed citizens who valued fair and honest elections.”

Three people in two other cars who were swept away by the rapidly rising stream were able to swim to safety, the patrol said.

Two additional deaths were reported in St. Louis County. Firefighters were called Tuesday morning after a submerged SUV was spotted near flooded Gravois Creek near Interstate 55. Crews broke through the sunroof and pulled out a woman who was pronounced dead, said Jason Brice, spokesman for the Lemay Fire Protection District.

Hours later, a man’s body was found in the same flooded creek, Brice said. Authorities were investigating how the body got there. Firefighters rescued 10 more people from flooded vehicles, Brice said.

On Monday, Missouri state troopers recovered the body of a 66-year-old man after a car was swept off a bridge in Ironton, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of St. Louis.

The National Weather Service said four tornadoes and possibly more likely touched down in parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas on Monday. There were no reports of deaths or injuries from the tornadoes.

Keli Cain, spokesman for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency, said damage assessment was underway.

The storms came a day after tornadoes injured at least 11 people in the Oklahoma City area of ​​central Oklahoma.

Cain said the department worked with the Oklahoma State Election Board to ensure polling locations were not disrupted.