(News director Luke Turnbough at Missourinet Farmington affiliate KREI Radio contributed to this story]
The lone grocery store in southeast Missouri’s Ellington remains closed, after being flooded.
The flooded Town and Country supermarket in Ellington, Mo. (May 2, 2017 photo courtesy of Missourinet Farmington affiliate KREI Radio}
Ellington City Clerk Amy Moore says “everything” inside the Town and Country supermarket was ruined, adding that volunteers are removing all items from the store.
“And once they get those out they’ll get it cleaned up and hopefully open soon,” Moore says.
The supermarket may not reopen until next week.
Moore tells Missourinet Farmington affiliate KREI Radio (AM 800) that an Ellington motel and gas station were also damaged by flooding.
Ellington, which has about 975 residents, is located at the junction of Highway 21 and Scenic Highway 106. It is about 125 miles southwest of St. Louis and about 60 miles west of Poplar Bluff.
Ellington is in Reynolds County. Cleanup work continues countywide. Reynolds County emergency management director Renee Horn says access to flood-prone areas is difficult.
“We have a lot of people, a lot of equipment on the ground trying to access these areas,” says Horn. “We’re just trying to get to them. We have limited phone power, limited electrical power. It’s sporadic throughout the county.”
Horn also says flooding continues near Clearwater Lake, a popular destination that is southeast of Ellington. She says Highway HH, which goes up to the dam, is impassable due to flooding.
She also tells KREI Radio that there have been water rescues in the Ellington, Lesterville and Annapolis areas.
Congressman Jason Smith (R-Salem) is hopeful that President Donald Trump will issue a federal disaster declaration, after the devastating flooding.
Smith, who spoke to Missourinet Monday from West Plains, says he’s had “multiple” conversations with the White House about a federal disaster declaration, adding that he’s also working with Governor Eric Greitens.
