04/10/2008

Associated Press

Rural roads and some smaller highways are closed across southwest Missouri by flooding from heavy rain as thunderstorms cross the region.

Police on Thursday evacuated a mobile home park with about 10 to 12 homes in Monett as a downtown creek burst its banks. Nearby businesses have also been told to get their employees out.

The Missouri Department of Transportation said numerous lettered routes were closed because of water pooling on the roads.

A few smaller state highways also had flooded low-water crossings, including Highway 123 in Greene County and Highway 95 in Ozark County.

Authorities said no tornado sightings were immediately reported after tornado warnings early Thursday in Lawrence County, between Springfield and Joplin.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for several counties in southern and eastern Missouri and into southern Illinois — essentially the same stretch that has been hammered by rain and floods over the past several weeks.

Meanwhile, moderate flooding is projected at several Missouri communities over the next few days, including the Mississippi River towns of Hannibal, Saverton, Louisiana and Clarksville in northeast Missouri and Cape Girardeau and New Madrid in southeast Missouri.

No major problems are expected but a few roads are or will be shut down.