Missouri Schools Cancelled, Roads Closed due to Flooding

August 27, 2019

Flooding in Missouri caused several school cancellations on Aug. 26, 2019. [Facebook/Eureka, Missouri Community.]

Several school districts canceled classes yesterday, due to a flash flood warning and road closures from several rainstorms that hit Missouri. Today, Aug. 27, buses are back on the road and transporting students as normal.

Rockwood School District canceled classes yesterday, due in part to school buses having trouble accessing roads around the schools. The school buses were turned around in the morning and students were returned back to their homes.

Rockwood School District in Eureka, Missouri, located southwest of St. Louis, opened schools back up today, Aug. 27, but yesterday, several routes were adversely impacted due to the weather.

While the district does have some low-lying areas and there is sometimes flooding, especially at Eureka High School, the area saw more serious flooding in 2015 and 2017 than it witnessed yesterday. The flooding was still unique and caused road closures throughout, residents reported.

“What made yesterday unique was flooding in areas that don’t usually get that much-accumulated water and the speed at which the water levels rose,” Communications Coordinator for the district David Morrison said.

While Rockwood School district normally deals with snow and ice, it announced school closures or early dismissals at its website and through the Rockwood app. The superintendent canceled classes based on several factors: weather predictions, highway department preparedness, time of day, wind-chill factor and driver reports of road conditions.

Video of Eureka, Missouri during the flooding.

The School District of Washington in Washington, Missouri, located near the Missouri River, also canceled classes due to the flooding that was limiting the bus service and employee routes to school.

As of today, Communications Manager Craig Vonder Haar said the commute this morning went fine, because the water had receded off the roadways, and things were back to normal.

“We appreciate the patience and cooperation of our parents, students, and staff. The water levels rose quickly Monday morning, forcing district officials to call off school,” Haar said.

Several roads remain closed in Missouri according to the Missouri Department of Transportation website due to the flooding. Flood preparation tips are also posted at the MoDOT website. However, most of the roads reopened yesterday afternoon and caused little damage.

The Missouri Department of Education communications department told School Transportation News that Valley Park was also among the school districts closed due to the flash flooding. The department also confirmed that each district and charter school uses its own protocols and procedures to determine a weather-related delay or cancellation.