Governor Eric Greitens (R) has declared a State of Emergency across Missouri, because of the massive rainfall amounts and deadly flash flooding.

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (File photo courtesy of Bill Greenblatt/UPI)

Gov. Greitens declared the state of emergency on Friday, in anticipation of the flooding and heavy rainfall.

The flooding has killed at least one person in southwest Missouri’s Clever.

Missourinet Springfield television partner KOLR 10 says the Missouri State Highway Patrol has confirmed that a woman died and a man was rescued Saturday, after they were swept away by flood waters south of Clever.

Highway Patrol Sergeant Jason Pace tells KOLR 10 Saturday afternoon’s incident happened on Route K, near the Christian-Stone County line.

Another community impacted by the heavy rain is St. Robert, which is in Pulaski County.

Greitens spokesman Parker Briden says the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) requested Saturday that 20 prisoners head to St. Robert as quickly as possible to fill 4,000 sandbags.

Briden told Missourinet Saturday night there’s a staging area in St. Robert with 5,000 sandbags, 100 tons of sand and a manual sandbag machine.

Briden says the 20 prisoners are being sent to St. Robert from the Missouri Department of Corrections’ (DOC) South Central Correctional Center in Licking.

Greitens says representatives from SEMA, the Highway Patrol, Missouri National Guard and Missouri Task Force 1 in Boone County have deployed resources on land, on water and in the sky to save lives and protect property.

As of Saturday afternoon, Greitens says there already had been 93 evacuations.

The governor notes all specialized rescue teams and swift water teams have been deployed. Most of the rescue work is happening in southwest and south-central Missouri.

In a statement, Governor Greitens says: “Thank you to our first responders for their courageous and capable work to keep Missouri families safe and to protect property. Together, we took early action to prepare for this storm, and our pre-staged rescue teams are now executing operations across Missouri. Please stay safe and stay away from rising water.”

Greitens emphasizes that heavy rain is also expected on Sunday. Missouri remains under a flash flood warning.