UPDATED, 10:40 a.m. Thursday

Residents are back in their homes after a night of swimming in waist high waters that flooded homes and sent vehicles floating down streets in various parts of the city and North St. Louis County.

The American Red Cross has placed its emergency shelter for flash flooding victims on standby. At least two dozen residents were given assistance on Wednesday night. The Red Cross had set up a shelter, at Normandy High School, 6701 St. Charles Rock Road.

Three teams of Red Cross Disaster Services volunteers are helping out after getting about 30 reports of flood damage in North St. Louis County and North St. Louis City, said Katie Nagus, a Red Cross spokeswoman. 

In Pine Lawn, two police officers rescued an elderly man who was trapped in his car as floodwaters swirled 12- feet deep, said Pine Lawn Police Chief Rickey Collins.

He's calling three of his officers heroes today for the rescue near Lillian and Edgewood Avenue.

Collins said: "There was an elderly man who was trapped in his vehicle during the flood banging on his window and that was the only thing the officers could hear."

He said two officers dived into the swollen waters and swam to the car.

"They broke the rear windshield out and they were able to rescue him and bring him back to dry land."

Collins said a third officer grabbed a neighbor's water hose and used that for emergency equipment.

Today, residents in that area are busy in a clean up efforts.

"It was a very dangerous situation," Collins said. "The fire department brought out life rafts and hoisted people to safety."

EARLIER STORY

WELLSTON • A deluge of rain Wednesday night swamped several north St. Louis county communities, sending residents scrambling for higher ground and flooding basements with muddy water.

Dozens of residents were forced from their homes during the downpour. Rushing water broke through basement windows and doors, quickly covered yards and lifted cars down streets.

The storm displaced some residents whose homes were either unlivable or deemed unsafe by emergency personnel or utility workers.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but several residents needed to be rescued from their cars and homes as they tried to escape the rising water, police and residents said.

At least 80 homes in a neighborhood of Northwoods near the Baden Creek basin were damaged when the storm dumped between 2 and 4 inches of rain during about an hour and a half, officials and residents said. Homes on six or seven streets, including many on Kenwood, Edgewood and Rohn drives, were affected.

"I lost everything," said Jeanetta Black, 37, who lives in the 4600 block of Edgewood Drive. "Everything."

Several residents of the area said they waded through waist deep water to reach dry ground, and others said neighbors helped them and their children out of swamped cars they were trying to use to escape the water.

Streets and basements flooded quickly, residents said, with several feet of water pouring into homes within seconds. And about 20 minutes after the worst of the flooding, the water was gone, leaving behind a slimy, muddy mess.

The American Red Cross set up a shelter at Normandy High School, and about 50 residents stopped by Wednesday night, mainly to register with the agency for future assistance. Refreshments were available and cots were set up in the gym, but nearly everyone was either able to stay in their home or was making arrangements with relatives.

The utility companies cut power and gas to many homes, leaving residents worried about spoiled food.

LaTonya Henderson, 39, whose home in the 6600 block of Kenwood Drive backs up to the creek, said she heard rumbles of thunder and then the steady patter of rain. Within minutes, her back yard was filling with water and reaching the side of her house.

"It's just mind-blowing," Henderson said. Eventually Henderson and her sons left their home as the basement filled with water, and they watched helplessly as a neighbor trapped in his car floated past on the street.

Firefighters arrived and broke out the car's back window to free the man and help him through the water to safety.

Henderson's 10-year-old son, Kenneth, told Henderson, "Mom, we need to pray."

The situation in Northwoods, a community of about 4,600, was a near repeat of flooding about two years ago, leaving residents frustrated.

"It hurts me to see my residents displaced time and time again," Northwoods mayor Everett R. Thomas said. "... This displaces residents, causes stress and pain, loss of property and the devaluation of property."

Saul Boyd, 53, whose home in the 7000 block of Rohn Drive was damaged, said when he noticed it was flooding outside his first thought was, "Again?" Two years ago his house flooded and a new Ford Mustang he purchased for his daughter's birthday was damaged.

This time Boyd had to rescue his boxer, Butch, from the water in the basement and carry him to the first floor. Downstairs, his son's bedroom, an exercise room, laundry room and tool area were flooded.

"Everything I saw was floating," Boyd said.

Boyd did not have power at his house, but planned to use candles for light so he could return home to sleep there overnight. His car was also flooded, so he was working on finding another way to work.