Rivers were rising rapidly across much of the Midwest and South today, prompting water rescues and road closures as a relentless storm continued to dump rain across the country.
The increased flooding, which was happening from Texas to Ohio, came after days of heavy rains and tornadoes that killed at least 11 people, including a Missouri firefighter who died while responding to a water rescue call Friday and a 74-year-old found trapped in a submerged vehicle in Kentucky.
Forecasters warned that the floods might continue well into this coming week, with rivers not expected to crest in some places until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Emergency workers reported overnight water rescues in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri and Texas. Late this morning, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency and warned that conditions could worsen quickly in and around Little Rock, Arkansas.
“There will likely be catastrophic flooding in the urban areas,” Jimmy Barham, the lead meteorologist at the weather service’s Little Rock office, warned in a written message.
On Friday, the local sheriff in Izard County, in northern Arkansas, was traveling to rescue a family when he crashed his truck on a washed-out road. The sheriff was not injured, but photos showed his truck partially submerged.
“All county roads will have major damage like this for the coming days that can be hidden by the water,” the sheriff’s office warned, adding that people should stay home if possible.
The storm has killed people across four states, including a 9-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters in Frankfort, Kentucky, and Chevy Gall, a firefighter with the Beaufort-Leslie Fire Protection District in Missouri, who died in a crash while driving to help rescue people from the floods. “Tonight is a fire chief’s worst nightmare,” the department’s leader said in a statement.
Some of the heaviest rain so far has fallen in Arkansas and in southern Missouri. In Lonsdale, Arkansas, firefighters said today that they were trying to help 10 people and 65 horses evacuate a flooded horse training center. In West Plains, Missouri, Mayor Mike Topliff said that some buildings had taken on water after several inches of rain fell in a few hours. He said there were nine water rescues in his city, and at least one person had died.
Wet weather was expected from East Texas to New York today, with some of the heaviest rains in Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, western Kentucky and Tennessee. That region has had days of rain, with some areas recording up to 9 inches, well above what many of these places usually receive in the entire month of April.
While some places, including Union City, Tennessee, reported receding floodwaters, federal data showed rivers rising rapidly throughout other parts of the region.
The Black River near Poplar Bluff, Missouri, surged from 4 feet to a flood stage of nearly 17 feet overnight. The river is expected to continue rising there today, with an evening crest expected just below record levels.
Elsewhere, water levels were increasing quickly on the Kaskaskia River in Illinois, the Mississippi River along the Missouri-Kentucky border and the Ohio River along the Illinois-Kentucky border. Many highways have closed in Indiana and Ohio, though some rivers there are not expected to reach peak levels for several more days.
The ground is saturated and can no longer absorb the rain, which means it “has nowhere to go and it runs off and creates more flooding,” said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center.
This morning, Pereira said that storms were developing and moving across eastern Oklahoma, northeast Texas, Arkansas and western Tennessee. Some of these areas could see several more inches of rain, he said.
The storms could also generate damaging winds, unleash large hail and spawn tornadoes.
“Folks are going to have the potential for really all modes of severe weather, from tornadoes to damaging straight-line winds, up to large hail,” said Scott Unger, a meteorologist at the weather service in Nashville, Tennessee. At times, the hail could be as large as golf balls, he said, with severe weather potentially lasting well into tonight.
Cities across the storm’s path Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, have prepared for conditions to worsen. Mayor Craig Greenberg of Louisville, Kentucky, said in a news release that he expected the Ohio River to rise about 30 feet. Officials in St. Louis County, Missouri, said that part of Interstate 44 would most likely be underwater by Sunday. Officials in Paducah, Kentucky, said they were installing floodgates and getting more pump stations.
In Louisville, the region’s sewage utility said the sewer system had reached capacity because of heavy rain, and asked customers to refrain from running washing machines and dishwashers.
While the looming rains were worrisome, people in affected areas were contending with the damage that had already been done.
In Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in the southwest of the state near the Tennessee line, floodwaters had inundated some homes, leaving mud on the floors and overwhelming losses.
“Everything is just destroyed,” said Brittanie Bogard, a City Council member, who began to cry as she described what she encountered when visiting flooded homes.
Though the rain slowed overnight, allowing the level of the North Fork Little River to drop several feet, it was still raining this morning and the river was beginning to rise again.
Jerry Gilliam, the judge executive for Christian County, which includes Hopkinsville, said emergency responders performed about 20 rescues from residences, and moved 40 dogs from a pet boarding service near the river. The county jail also sits right next to the river.
“We were just inches away from evacuating around 550 inmates,” he said. “But fortunately last night, that’s when the water started receding.”
The stormy weather is expected to shift east Sunday, giving the central United States a break. While there’s a chance for rain along the East Coast, the heaviest rains are expected in the southeast from the Gulf Coast to the Southern Appalachians. The flood risk is not as high as it was in the central United States on Friday and today.
Many of the towns experiencing flooding are accustomed to high water and seemed to be taking the conditions in stride.
In Cairo, Illinois, which sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, pumps were placed around town and a levee gate was barricaded as a moderate, steady rain fell this morning. Some streets were flooded, but no property damage had been reported.
“Everybody within the city is working around the clock to make sure we keep the water out,” said Romello Orr, a member of the City Council and a restaurant owner in Cairo.
Outside Winchester, Kentucky, where the Kentucky River runs, Karl Crase said the lower-floor dining area at his restaurant, Hall’s on the River, was underwater today. He was hopeful that this flood would not be as bad as some in the past.
“We get the beauty of being on the river and the benefits and the uniqueness that comes with that. Then we become Hall’s in the River,” Crase said. “It’s part and parcel of the life we lead.”
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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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