Floodwaters inundate Route 66 village of Devils Elbow

Floodwaters have inundated the old Route 66 village of Devils Elbow, Missouri, for a second time this decade.

Jax Welborn, a Route 66 advocate who lives nearby, posted these shocking photos of floodwaters from the swollen Big Piney River soaking numerous structures there, including the closed Elbow Inn and the historic bridge.

The flooding has impacted many areas of mid-Missouri, including the closing of Interstate 44 near Jerome.

Devils Elbow also suffered disastrous flooding in 2017, back when the Elbow Inn still was open.

T the Big Piney River contained a nasty bend, or “a devil of an elbow,” in that area that frustrated those trying to float logs or railroad ties down the river during the 19th century, hence the village’s name.

During the 1940s, the state called Devil’s Elbow “one of the seven beauty spots of Missouri” because of the river and the towering limestone bluffs.

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