12-year-old dies after raging floodwaters wash her down storm drain, Missouri cops say

A young St. Louis girl drowned Saturday night when powerful floodwaters swept her into a storm drain, Missouri officials told local news outlets.

According to the state Highway Patrol, the 12-year-old was traveling in an SUV with a woman and two other children when their vehicle got trapped by flash flooding, KMOV reported. The woman tried to turn back but it was too late, and stormwaters pushed their vehicle off the road and into a culvert feeding into a large concrete storm drain.

The woman and two of the children were able to get out of the vehicle and make it to safety, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. But when the 12-year-old, later identified as Alyeya Carter, tried to climb out, she was washed into the drain.

Family members also referred to her as Aaleya Carter in social media posts, the Post-Dispatch reported.

The water was up to two feet deep in places, KSDK reported.

The woman and two children who survived were family members of Carter, according to the outlet.

Carter’s body was found several hours later in Coldwater Creek, to the north of St. Louis Lambert International Airport, outlets reported.

“In my knowledge and years of experience, I’ve never seen a situation unfold this way,” Corporal Juston Wheetley of the state Highway Patrol told KMOV. “It’s just a tragedy that a child has lost their life as a result.”

Powerful storms caused havoc across St. Louis and surrounding communities, downing trees and power lines, cutting power to thousands of residents, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Carter’s death comes days after another young Missourian, 16-year-old model Kara Wrice, drowned while swimming in the Meramac River in St. Louis County.

This story was originally published July 11, 2021 at 4:32 PM with the headline "12-year-old dies after raging floodwaters wash her down storm drain, Missouri cops say."