ST. LOUIS — As soon as Linda Roever heard about the flooding, she jumped in her car and drove toward the animals at Stray Paws Rescue in old town St. Peters.
The road was flooded and impassable, so she parked at a Burger King nearly half a mile away. She waded through 4 feet of water as fast as she could. Roever, president of the board for the volunteer-run shelter, called 911 as she ran toward the building.
She rushed through the lobby, toward the first room on the left. But it was too late to save the puppies, according to board member Vicki Ferris, who recounted the details of the rescue.
"We lost everything," Ferris said. Four of the puppies were beagle mixes. Their mother had climbed to the side of the crate, where she was clinging to the wall to stay above water. Two of the other puppies were Aussie mixes, who had arrived Monday and were going to be picked up by foster families Tuesday morning. The other four were Catahoula mixes, who had just been rescued last week after they had been found abandoned.
The adult dogs were chin-high in water.
Roever grabbed two dogs, one under each arm, trying to make it outside. A floating refrigerator blocked her way until firefighters moved it. The first responders and Roever evacuated the dogs to higher ground until they could be transported to an animal hospital. Some of the rescue dogs had recently had surgeries and have to be restitched.
One of the rescued adult dogs, a pit bull, was still in shock, Ferris said. "We don't know if he will make it."
She broke down crying several times talking about the lost dogs.
"We will never get over this," she said.
The nonprofit organization, on Depot Street, had posted an emergency appeal for help Facebook on Tuesday morning when firefighters and rescue teams with boats were on the way.
"Highways are closed. Roads are closed. We are distraught. PRAYERS needed. FOSTERS needed. DONATIONS to fix this damage will be needed," the post said.
In an update about the death of the puppies, they wrote: "Fly high little ones. Our hearts are breaking."
By afternoon, nearly $30,000 had been donated to Stray Paws, and its post was shared thousands of times, with many offers to help.
Ferris said the board fully intends to rebuild.
"It's going to take us a minute," she said. "I don't know if we'll be able to step into that building again."
Also in St. Charles County, a dog drowned at Elm Point Animal Hospital in St. Charles when its basement flooded.
About 40 dogs and 13 cats were rescued from the St. Clair County Animal Control Center after the facility flooded, according to Kim Vrooman, executive director of the Belleville Humane Society. Staff from the humane society assisted first responders in the rescue this morning, she said.
While no animals were injured at the St. Louis Zoo, a portion of the distribution building roof collapsed and a section of a wall buckled around 4 a.m., said spokesman Billy Brennan.
"While there is a lot of damage, thankfully no people or animals were injured," Brennan said.
The St. Louis Fire Department was called to the scene, and the utilities to the building were shut off. The building is a nonpublic area, and the zoo is working with a structural engineer to identify the next steps and determine when the building is safe for staff to enter.
While some operations will be affected by the closure of the building, the zoo will have normal operating hours for the public.
"While it's too early to determine the cause, it's likely due to the excessive rain and weight of water on the roof," Brennan said.
———
(Erin Heffernan of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.)
———
