Page 18 - Interstate 44 News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

We put the barricades up on purpose, to keep people out. we're working crocely with the police, the highway patrol to keep people out of those areas. >> the department of transportation relies on partners and other agencies to make sure the closures go off without a hitch and get people where they need to go. what are your biggest challenges right now? >> well, right now, since i-44 closed last night at 2:00, is trying to route those people around and trying to get them to roads -- the truckers, especially, to roads they can make it. you can't send my tractor-trailers on small roads. these det...

It's really been difficult. >> it has been difficult. it's a real challenge, rerouting all of those people, especially when you consider that i-44 is a major trucking route. we know there's some 100,000 vehicles that go through there per day. a ten-mile stretch of that is closed. how are you managing to route people to safety? >> that's the tricky part. it's closed in two places. one in midmissouri and last night at 2:00 it closed in st. louis. a lot of our detour routes are also closed. we're trying to find routes that can handle the trucks. some of these are 100, 150-mile detours. we are urg...

Interstate 44 is closed in the middle of the state kind of near rala, missouri, and we are expecting a spot on interstate 44 to close in st. louis before morning. and those two closures on interstate 44 are making it not only very di to get around missouri but also very difficult for travel rs trying to get through -- travellers trying to get through our state and travel in the midwest, the ability to get from, say, illinois to oklahoma. so we're having a tough time dealing with truck traffic and through travellers trying to get through the state of missouri. >> and in some areas, these floods...

Water has been rising all morning long. we are have been here since 5:00 this morning local time, and look at that. look at the bridge and the overpass, and that is interstate 44 and the wa water is up to -- the water is up to the overpass. and perpendicular is high wway . you can see the highway $141 photo signs here, ap i took this before the sun came up, and there were arrows, another sign underneath the 141 sign that was completely above the water, and now, completely under, so it is going to give you an idea of how fast the water has risen throughout the day today. the traffic lights almo...

>> and earlier cnn talked with the missouri department of transportation about how the floodwaters are affecting the roads there. >> we're dealing with rising rivers all across the state of missouri. we currently have over 225 roads that are closed in the state and our worst situation is the interstate 44 is closed in the middle of the state, near rala, missouri, and we are expecting a spot on 44 to close in the st. louis before morning, and those two closures on interstate 44 are making it not only difficult to get around missouri but also very difficult for travellers to try to get through o...