This was the scene in downtown St. Joseph around noon, Friday as heavy cloud cover and a pending thunderstorm darkened the city.

Streets flooded and mini vans were water logged as heavy weather struck St. Joseph shortly after noon on Friday.

The rain came so fast that sewer inlets couldn't handle the volume. Several cars and trucks were bogged down due to high water conditions that in some cases, overwhelmed the vehicles before some drivers could react. No injuries were reported but several vehicles had to be towed from intersections.

Messanie between 32nd and 34th street had to be barricaded because of high water. Some streets on the south and east side also had water as deep as two feet until the sewers could whisk it away. In some areas, the rushing water heaved up chunks of concrete and asphault streets causing damage.

Area rivers and streams also swelled to near flood stages as the heavy rains throughout northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas spilled into them. Minor lowland flooding was reported on Friday.