Flood fears rise from Great Lakes to Texas
Storm system spread relentless rains across southern and central USA
LOUISVILLE – A storm system with relentless rains and fierce winds that pounded the southern and central U.S. over the weekend could lead to treacherous flooding in the days ahead.
The system that stretched from Texas to the Canadian maritime provinces left a path of destruction as it cut eastward Sunday: Homes were leveled, trees uprooted, cars demolished. Five people were killed, two in suspected tornadoes. Emergency crews struggled to keep up with calls from drivers stranded by rising floodwaters.
Flooding will continue to be a threat this week, Accuweather said. More than
200 river gauges reported levels above flood stage from the Great Lakes to eastern Texas, the Weather Channel said.
By Sunday, the river gauge near downtown Louisville showed the Ohio River at 34.9 feet. The normal level is about 12 feet. In 1997, the water was measured at 38.8 feet; roughly 50,000 homes were flooded, and the Louisville area alone saw $200 million in damage.
In Adairville, Ky., Dallas Jane Combs,
79, died after a likely tornado struck her home, the Logan County Sheriff ’s Department told TV station WKRN. Two bodies were recovered from submerged vehicles in the state Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
In southwestern Michigan, the body of a man was found floating in floodwaters Sunday in Kalamazoo, city Public Safety Lt. David Thomas told AP. And in northeast Arkansas, Albert Foster, 83, was killed when his trailer home collapsed under high winds, Clay County Sheriff Terry Miller said.
The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday that a tornado of at least an EF-2 strength, with maximum winds of up to 120 mph, hit the area east of Clarksville, Tenn.
Kim Nicholson was watching TV with her husband when the storm slammed into her Farmington home, shaking it off its foundation. She recalled going downstairs for safety after she received a cellphone alert. When she looked outside, it didn’t seem right: “A weird green color,” she said. Then winds picked up and “the whole house itself, actually, was like jumping.”
On Sunday, neighbors flocked to the devastation to help pick up the pieces.
Insulation, household items and framing were strewn about the subdivision. Residents worked to rescue a family dog trapped beneath the rubble. A statue of Mary, set upright by a volunteer, was one of the only things left intact on one piece of property.
“To look at what I’m looking at and know we didn’t lose anybody is just a miracle,” Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett said.
In Kentucky, a MetroSafe supervisor told the Louisville Courier-Journal that there had been 75 to 100 phone calls flagging abandoned vehicles and that at least 20 people needed to be rescued from cars and buildings because of rising floodwaters.
The deaths in Kentucky and Arkansas on Saturday marked an unfortunate milestone: They were the first linked to a twister in 284 days, ending the USA’s longest streak of days without tornado deaths since accurate records began in 1950, according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center.
Novelly reported from Louisville; Miller from McLean, Va. Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY; Jake Lowary, Chris Smith, Jason Gonzales, Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle.