ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Communities in St. Louis County spent time picking up the pieces from the historic flooding that wreaked havoc on them on Wednesday.
Just 24 hours after unprecedented rainfall inundated Palm Drive in Hazelwood overnight on Tuesday, the street looked much dryer.
Patricia Stallings, a resident, communicated with 5 On Your Side from her porch across five feet of floodwater.
Her son, a college student’s truck was submerged in water and her basement saw some damage.
Wednesday the heartache and headache worsened for Stallings and many others as they began to recoup their lives.
"The calling of the insurance company. The cleanup. the sanitizing and all of that. So it's pretty devastating," she said.
Jerry Tang had been on the block for only two weeks.
His new backyard was unrecognizable, “just like a lake,” and his storage shed was ruined.
“It cost me about probably 2500 for my washer and dryer," he added.
Businesses in the Florissant Meadows Shopping Center on US-67 also hopped on the road to recovery.
Crews worked to assess the damage, clear buildings, and air them out.
Sunny Henley and her partners at The Naush Experience Salon were stressed at the sight Wednesday morning.
"It was crazy. A tearjerker for real. Things were turned over. Hair extensions were everywhere. Wig heads were down. It was hard to tell whether. I'm like did water do all of this? Henley questioned.
With no flood insurance, Henley, like many other business owners, were left with the cleanup and getting staff back to work.
She mentioned their lease and rent at the shopping center did not require flood insurance, which can be expensive.
"To get going. You got to replace these things. We service people. How are we going to service people without having adequate equipment," Henley continued.
Old St. Ferdinand Shrine up the road is not new to natural disasters.
"We sit between Cold Water Creek and Fountain Creek so it has flooded many times in our 200-year-old history,” said Carol Campbell, director.
This time, the pews were moved by the more than 30 inches of water spread across rooms.
The wood on the aisle leading up to the sacred altar buckled.
"These are boards that Lewis and Clark walked on when they were here for a wedding. Pews that they could have sat in so you want to maintain it as such," Campbell continued.
As unexpected tragedy strikes, the strength of the community shined through.
"Everybody comes together and we rebuild and that's what we'll do this time," Campbell said.
Many families, mothers, and their children took shelter at the James Eagen Civic Center in Florrisant, an effort facilitated by Red Cross in partnership with the County.
Many homeowners and business owners anticipated an emergency declaration from the White House after one was implemented at the county and state levels.
County Executive Dr. Sam Page said that would be the key for FEMA to start the process to assess the damage and open the opportunity for residents and businesses to apply for disaster funds.
Flood victims are asked to call the United Way at 211 to relay damage.
Families can go to the emergency shelter at 1 James J. Eagan Drive.