Relentless Rain Floods Parts of Brentwood

A car stalls on Brentwood Boulevard near Elm Street. The driver was rescued by a tow truck operator. She sat in his truck as he directed traffic away from the flooded portion of the road. (All photos by Steve Bowman) — A car stalls on Brentwood Boulevard just south of Russell Ave. The driver was rescued by a tow truck operator. She sat in his truck as he directed traffic away from the flooded portion of the road. (All photos by Steve Bowman)

Boat rescues on Manchester; Brentwood Park a river

By Steve Bowman
Editor, The Brentwood Spirit
Email: bowmansj@sbcglobal.net

Video footage of flooding in Brentwood made the national news over the weekend as rain and thunderstorms hit the area. Several inches of rain fell on Saturday, causing portions of Manchester Road to be closed to traffic due to flooding.

Brentwood Park became a river as Deer Creek overflowed its banks and made portions of Brentwood Boulevard impassable.

The water looked to be up to several feet deep on Manchester near Ruth Ave., causing Brentwood firefighters in boats to rescue eight people trapped in cars and nearby businesses. Rescuers said the trapped drivers had apparently gotten stuck trying to drive through the flooded portions. No injuries were reported.

Firefighters rescued the owner of Discount Smoke Shop, 8519 Manchester Rd., among others.

At American Locksmiths the water was about a foot deep in the parking lot and 2 inches deep inside. It’s the fifth time the business has flooded in 36 years, owner Bruce Becker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The dramatic scene of rescuers in boats on Manchester was shown on at least two national evening news shows Saturday.

Also on Saturday afternoon, the banks of Deer Creek spilled over into Brentwood Park and across Russell Avenue. The water flooded the yard of at least one home on the north side of the road.

The rain is expected to stop by late Monday, after up to 10 inches has fallen on some portions of Missouri since Saturday. The almost continuous rainfall makes 2015 officially the wettest year on record.