Floods
© AP Photo/Darron Cummings
Flood waters from the Ohio River crash against a step of a home along the river in Utica, Ind., Monday, April 25, 2011.
Flood waters from the Ohio River crash against a step of a home along the river in Utica, Ind., Monday, April 25, 2011.
The rising waters are expected to top levels set during February 1937. This mark is the middle Mississippi Valley's equivalent to the 1993 event farther north along Old Man River.
Even if rain were to fall at a normal rate for the remainder of the spring, the consequences of what has already happened in the Midwest will affect way of live, property, agriculture and travel/shipping/navigation for weeks in the region.
While the amount of evacuees currently numbers in the hundreds, it could soon number in the tens of thousands as levees are topped or breached and rivers expand their girth into more farming communities, towns and cities.
© Richard Rasmussen/The Sentinel-Record/Associated Press
A resident of Garland County, Ark., looked for his cellphone yesterday in the remains of his home after a tornado hit the area.
A resident of Garland County, Ark., looked for his cellphone yesterday in the remains of his home after a tornado hit the area.
Six inches of rain fell Monday in the southeastern Missouri community of Poplar Bluff, bringing the four-day total to 15 inches. The deluge caused the Black River to pour over a levee in 30 places and to break through in one spot, and about 1,000 homes were evacuated. Deputy Police Chief Jeff Rolland said it was a "miracle'' that the levee held until late morning.
The levee extends from Poplar Bluff to the town of Qulan downstream, in a sparsely populated area. Butler County Sheriff Mark Dodd said water pouring through a breach between the two towns was unlikely to make it far enough upstream to threaten Poplar Bluff, a town of 17,000 residents south of St. Louis.
Flooding in 2008 damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes in Poplar Bluff, raising questions about whether the levee was capable of protecting the town during times of heavy rainfall.
© ABC News
Dark storm and funnel clouds form over Dallas, Texas on April 25, 2011
Dark storm and funnel clouds form over Dallas, Texas on April 25, 2011
Arkansas authorities told the Associated Press the two people were killed following the severe storms that passed through the state.
In Missouri's Poplar Bluff, residents evacuated amid fears of the flooding, the Associated Press reported.
Water began to leak and overflow the levee holding back the Black River, officials said.
Tornadoes were forming over Dallas late Monday afternoon, as the weather there turned ominous, threatened by a storm system that has brought 200 reports of severe weather across the country over the last 24 hours.
A compromised levee in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, failed Tuesday, forcing authorities to order more evacuations in the region.
The levee failed in at least four locations along a two-mile stretch along the Black River, City Manager Doug Bagby said.
The failure was sending flood waters from the Black River racing into a populated but rural area of Butler County, sparing the city of Poplar Bluff, said the city's deputy police chief, Jeff Rolland.
The levee failed in at least four locations along a two-mile stretch along the Black River, City Manager Doug Bagby said.
The failure was sending flood waters from the Black River racing into a populated but rural area of Butler County, sparing the city of Poplar Bluff, said the city's deputy police chief, Jeff Rolland.
50 to 60 still unaccounted for in Vilonia; trail of destruction 15 miles long, three miles wide
The National Weather Service says first light has revealed the track of a deadly tornado that flattened trees and power lines, tore the roofs from homes and left a debris-strewn path through a small central Arkansas town.
The tornado that swiped Vilonia late Monday killed at least four residents, while the severe storms sweeping much of the Midwest left at least three people dead elsewhere in the state.
Emergency crews are preparing to search for dozens of people still missing early Tuesday before more forecast storms strike the area in the afternoon.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state of emergency Monday night. So far this month, 14 people have died in storm-related incidents in the state.
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The suspected tornado that hit Vilonia left a path of damage three miles wide and 15 miles long, officials said. Between 50 to 80 houses were destroyed, according to Faulkner County emergency management.
The National Weather Service says first light has revealed the track of a deadly tornado that flattened trees and power lines, tore the roofs from homes and left a debris-strewn path through a small central Arkansas town.
The tornado that swiped Vilonia late Monday killed at least four residents, while the severe storms sweeping much of the Midwest left at least three people dead elsewhere in the state.
Emergency crews are preparing to search for dozens of people still missing early Tuesday before more forecast storms strike the area in the afternoon.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state of emergency Monday night. So far this month, 14 people have died in storm-related incidents in the state.
Get the latest on this story, including user photos, on breakingnews.com
The suspected tornado that hit Vilonia left a path of damage three miles wide and 15 miles long, officials said. Between 50 to 80 houses were destroyed, according to Faulkner County emergency management.
© Unknown
Some 40,000 people have been affected by the torrential rain and several hundred left homeless.
The authorities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul have declared a state of emergency in seven cities.
Among the dead were seven family members whose homes in the town of Igrejinha were buried by a landslide.
The National Weather Service in northern Indiana has issued a number of flood watches and warnings for northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio.
The flood warning continues for the following rivers:
The flood warning continues for the following rivers:
- St. Joseph River affecting Allen and DeKalb counties in Indiana and Defiance County in Ohio until Friday night. At 1 p.m. Monday, the river was 9.8 feet and falling in Fort Wayne. Flood stage is 12.0 feet, and the weather service said it is likely to rise above flood stage Tuesday morning and crest near 14.9 feet by 2 a.m. Wednesday. Minor flooding is forecast.
- St. Joseph River near Newville was measured at 12.5 feet and steady at 3 p.m. Monday, with minor flooding. Flood stage is 12.0 feet. The river is expected to crest near 134.0 feet about 2 p.m. Thursday. Moderate flooding is forecast.
- Wabash River near Bluffton affecting Huntington and Wells counties.
- Tiffin River near Stryker affecting Defiance, Fulton and Williams counties in Ohio.
© Curious Maps
The city said the levee had been compromised after a week in which the area received more than eight inches of rain. Authorities ordered some residents most at risk to evacuate immediately. Other residents near the river were asked to closely monitor developments and water levels in their neighborhoods, the police department said.
"The levee is weakening by the minute and may fail at any time," the National Weather Service said in an alert Monday afternoon.
The weather service said the southeastern portion of the city would be inundated if the levee fails.The levee protects Poplar Bluff from the river, which is now more than four feet over flood stage, according to the weather service.
Heavy rains lashed the city for the second successive day today, inundating low lying areas, uprooting trees in some regions and causing traffic jam on all the main roads.
Incessant rains have uprooted trees in some areas while some low lying areas including Ejipura, parts of Mysore road and Goripalya have been inundated. There has also been water logging in areas including Sriramapuram and Okalipuram, officials of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike told PTI.
Incessant rains have uprooted trees in some areas while some low lying areas including Ejipura, parts of Mysore road and Goripalya have been inundated. There has also been water logging in areas including Sriramapuram and Okalipuram, officials of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike told PTI.
