At least 16 people have died in floods and tornadoes as storms slash from Texas to Ohio
At least 16 weather-related deaths have been reported since the start of the storms, including 10 in Tennessee.
Another round of heavy rain and flash floods hit regions of the South and Midwest on Saturday, which had already been extensively flooded by days of severe storms that included fatal tornadoes. Forecasters predicted that rivers in certain areas will continue to rise for days.
Day after day of torrential rains have hammered the central United States, swiftly swelling streams and causing a series of flash flood situations from Texas to Ohio. According to the National Weather Service, dozens of places in numerous states are anticipated to experience significant floods, potentially causing extensive damage to homes, highways, bridges, and other important infrastructure.
“We’ll be dealing with the river flooding the next couple days, even the next couple weeks in some places,” said Colby Pope, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Little Rock, Ark.
A 57-year-old man died Friday evening after getting out of an automobile that had washed off the road in West Plains, Missouri. Flooding killed two individuals in Kentucky: a 9-year-old child carried away on his way to school that same day, and a 74-year-old man whose corpse was discovered Saturday inside a totally flooded vehicle in Nelson County, police said.
According to authorities, a 5-year-old died at home in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Saturday as a result of a weather-related event. No information was immediately available.
On Saturday, heavy weather reached from East Texas to New York, with federal statistics showing rivers rising swiftly in certain areas.
The Black River at Poplar Bluff, Missouri, rose from four feet to over 17 feet overnight. The river is projected to rise until Sunday morning, with an evening crest that is somewhat lower than previous records. On Saturday, emergency services, including an urban search and rescue team, were ready in Poplar Bluff to assist with any necessary evacuations.
Water levels were rapidly rising along the Kaskaskia River in Illinois, the Mississippi River near the Missouri-Kentucky border, and the Ohio River along the Illinois-Kentucky border. Many roadways have been blocked in Indiana and Ohio, although some rivers are not anticipated to reach peak levels for many days. The Spring River near Hardy, Ark., was already at significant flood level on Saturday, with the second-highest crest ever recorded there.
The ground is saturated and no longer absorbs rain, so it "has nowhere to go and it runs off and creates more flooding," according to Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Falmouth, a 2,000-person village on a bend of the rising Licking River in north-central Kentucky, has been asked to evacuate by emergency officials. The warnings were identical to those sent for the devastating floods almost 30 years ago, when the river rose to a record 50 feet (15 meters), killing five people and destroying 1,000 houses.
Weather experts in Arkansas urged people not to travel unless absolutely essential due to significant floods.
Over the previous 24 hours, more than a dozen tornadoes have been reported in Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri.
The greatest of the severe thunderstorm, tornado, and flash flood threat will occur in the evening hours, when a line of intense thunderstorms with torrential rain sweeps across sections of the South.
The biggest tornado threat was in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi, encompassing the Memphis metropolitan region. A handful of powerful tornadoes, as well as very large hail and catastrophic wind gusts, might hit east Texas and western Tennessee.
The chance of severe storms and heavy rain will decrease on Sunday as this system moves eastward. However, areas of the Tennessee and Ohio River Valley could receive a another 3 to 6 inches before the frontal boundary passes out of the region by Monday.
