Tag Archives: Flooding

Death Toll Rises as Floodwaters Continue to Plague Missouri, Other States

Large portions of the central United States remained under flood warnings on Thursday morning as high waters continued to wreak havoc on dozens of riverside communities.

The National Weather Service issued the warnings for significant swaths of Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, where floodwaters reached historic levels following a powerful winter storm, but also issued isolated flood warnings throughout the southeast. The service also issued flash flooding watches in large portions of Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

While floodwaters began to recede in many locations, particularly around hard-hit greater St. Louis, they remained at critically high levels. The National Weather Service warned that towns and cities further south along the Mississippi River could experience “significant river flooding” into mid-January as the massive amounts of water flowed downstream, according to its website.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 365 river gauges remained at flood stages on Thursday, 44 of which were at “major flooding” levels. The river gauges don’t always consider lakes, creeks or streams, many of which also breached their banks.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, who declared a state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard in the wake of the flooding, said the floods are responsible for killing 14 people in the state, according to a news release from his office. The Missouri Department of Transportation said at least 200 roads were submerged statewide early Thursday, according to a news release.

A busy 21-mile stretch of Interstate 44 remained closed near St.Louis, and the statement from Nixon’s office indicated it was the first time floodwaters shut down the road since 1982.

The Meramec River in Valley Park, Missouri, near St. Louis, crested at a record level of 44.11 feet early Thursday, according to the NOAA, which was more than four feet above a 33-year-old record and only the second time the river reached 38 feet in the past century. The river receded slightly to 43.57 feet later Thursday, the NOAA said, but that was still 27 feet above flood stage.

The community ordered those in low-lying areas to evacuate as the waters surged toward historic heights, according to a posting on its Facebook page. The city is protected by a levee, the posting indicates, but there was still “significant flooding” in several portions of the city.

The Meramec River flooding also damaged “hundreds of homes and businesses” in Pacific, Missouri, according to the governor’s office. The city, located upstream from Valley Park, crested just shy of its all-time record, the NOAA said, but that was still 18 feet above flood stage.

As the waters departed Valley Park and Pacific, they arrived further downstream.

NOAA data indicates the Meramec River in Arnold climbed to an all-time high of 47.22 feet on Thursday morning, nearly two feet above the record and roughly 23 feet above flood stage. The city recommended people evacuate because of the danger to residences, according to its website.

The Meramec flows into the Mississippi River, and communities downstream were expected to see waters rise further. In Chester, Illinois, the NOAA said waters were already at 44.26 feet on Thursday, 17 feet above flood stage and its second-highest level ever, and forecasts called for another 3-foot rise this week. Several roads in the city were already closed, its website indicates.

“This historic flooding event will continue to cause significant hazards and disruptions – from Missourians being forced from their homes, to businesses temporarily closing, to traffic congestion and impacts on interstate commerce due to the closure of a major trucking corridor,” Nixon said in a statement. “I thank the many Missourians who are assisting their neighbors by providing rooms in their homes, helping with sandbagging efforts and countless other acts of kindness.”

Missouri wasn’t the only state affected by the extreme weather.

The storm dumped snow, ice and rain throughout Oklahoma, prompting Governor Mary Fallin to extend a state of emergency. The state Department of Emergency Management reported Wednesday evening that five people lost their lives and another 104 were injured in the storm.

Earlier this week, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said “significant issues related to flooding” had occurred in seven counties and he issued a disaster proclamation for those areas, according to a news release from his office.

Historic Floods Continue to Devastate Missouri, United States

Significant portions of the United States remained under flood warnings on Wednesday morning as the fallout from a powerful storm system left their communities waterlogged.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in at least 18 states in the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast and Ohio Valley. Most of the warnings were concentrated in Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma, three of the states that received the highest rainfall totals during the recent storm.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm dropped six to 12 inches of rain across those three states and northwest Arkansas, where additional flood warnings were in effect.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said 379 river gauges across the country were in flood stage Wednesday morning, including 48 that reported “major flooding.” Those were down from Tuesday’s respective totals of 438 and 53, but that decline likely provided little relief to the regions that were still underwater, or where floodwaters were expected to rise.

Those river gauges don’t necessarily include lakes or other smaller bodies of water, like creeks or streams, that were also flooding. The rivers alone reached historic levels in several communities.

According to the NOAA, the Meramec River, which runs just south of Saint Louis, had already surpassed its record crests in two different locations on Wednesday morning. That included a whopping 45.33-foot total near Eureka, which was about 2.5 feet above a 33-year-old record and more than 25 feet above the threshold for what the NOAA considers to be major flooding. The waters were expected to continue to rise, reaching an all-time high of 46.2 feet later Wednesday.

Those rising waters were also forcing some mandatory evacuations and road closures.

City officials in Valley Park, Missouri, ordered residents to leave their homes and seek higher ground as the Meramec River reached 40 feet, according to the city’s Facebook page. The Missouri Department of Transportation shut down a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 44 near St. Louis because of flooding, according to a news release. That road is expected to be closed several days.

The National Weather Service reported that Union, Missouri, received more than a foot of rain in the storm. According to the NOAA, the Bourbeuse River reached a historic height of 34.31 feet on Tuesday before receding to 29.3 feet on Wednesday morning. Still, that was three feet above the threshold for major flooding in the city, located some 55 miles southwest of Saint Louis.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard, according to a news release from his office. The National Guard will assist evacuation efforts, as well as ensure traffic stays away from the numerous closed roads. Floods have killed 13 people in the state alone, according to the governor’s office, 12 of whom died when rushing waters swept vehicles off roads. St. Louis County officials also declared a countywide state of emergency, writing in a news release that the waters trapped people in businesses and homes.

Some locations along the Mississippi River were also expected to see record flooding, according to the NOAA. But even in areas where records weren’t broken, the waters were still very high.

The NOAA indicated there was major flooding along several rivers in Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Minor or moderate flooding was occurring in parts of the southeast.

Destructive Winter Storm Reaches New England

A powerful and deadly winter storm that brought heavy snow and widespread flooding to the United States continued to travel east on Tuesday morning, leaving more destruction in its path.

The National Weather Service issued winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings in parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England as the storm was poised to finally exit the country. But the storm’s fury was still being felt across the nation, particularly in the Great Plains and Ohio and Mississippi valleys, where numerous flood warnings remained in effect.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said 438 river gauges across the nation were in flood stage on Tuesday morning, 53 of which were experiencing “major flooding.” Most of them were clustered in the central United States, though a few were in the southeast. In many locations, floodwaters had already reached or were threatening to surpass historic levels.

Fueled by 10 inches of rainfall in the vicinity, the Illinois River near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, reached an all-time high crest of 30.69 feet on Monday, more than 2.5 feet above the previous record that was set 65 years ago, the NOAA reported. The floodwaters had receded to about 21 feet there on Tuesday morning, though that was still more than three feet above the threshold for what is considered major flooding. The NOAA said parts of Texas, Arkansas and Missouri also saw 10 or more inches of rain, including a storm-high 12.25 inches near Union, Missouri. The storm also packed a powerful punch in Illinois, dumping 9.98 inches of rain near Roxana.

Rising waters prompted the mayor of St. Louis to declare a city emergency. Just south of the city in Arnold, the NOAA reported Meramec River was already experiencing major flooding, and was expected to surpass its all-time high level of 45.3 feet later this week. That water flows into the Mississippi River, and the NOAA projected that the further-south riverside communities of Chester, Illinois, and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, were also expected to tie or break local crest records.

That’s just a sampling of the storm’s flooding, and the 438 river gauges do not necessarily cover the lakes or other water bodies causing floods. In southern Missouri, for example, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported that waters at Table Rock Lake rose approximately 17 feet between Monday and Tuesday, fueling a massive release of water into flood-prone Lake Taneycomo. The United States Geological Survey reported that waters at Ozark Beach Dam in Forsyth, some 20 miles away from Table Rock Lake, rose three feet between Monday and Tuesday.

The storm brought more than just flooding and heavy rains.

More than three inches of sleet fell in Iowa and Illinois, the NOAA reported. But an inch was enough to snarl traffic at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, one of the world’s busiest.

Flight monitoring website FlightAware.com reported that 1,366 flights to or from the airport were cancelled on Monday, more than half of the airport’s scheduled traffic. Another 303 flights involving Chicago Midway International Airport were also cancelled, according to FlightAware, and lingering effects of the storm caused an additional 236 cancellations at O’Hare on Tuesday.

According to NOAA data, no place came close to receiving the 41 inches of snow the storm dumped on Bonito Lake, located in a mountain range in New Mexico. But the storm did produce more than nine inches of snow in Oklahoma, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas.

The storm knocked out power to tens of thousands in Oklahoma, according to utility companies.

While the storm appears seems to have weakened considerably, it’s still packing a punch. According to the National Weather Service, parts of Maine could receive up to a foot of snow.

More Flooding, Tornadoes, Snow Expected to Impact United States

More extreme weather was threatening the United States on Monday morning, as the remnants of the devastating and deadly Winter Storm Goliath continued to move eastward.

The storm system produced the floods and tornadoes that caused at least 43 deaths in recent days, according to Reuters. On Monday, thunderstorms, flooding and winter precipitation was affecting a widespread stretch of the nation, and there were even additional tornado warnings.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued winter storm warnings in parts of eight states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri and Kansas. Flood warnings or flash flood watches were in effect in parts of 15 states, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported 378 river gauges were in flood stage nationwide.

There were also active tornado watches in central Alabama and the Florida panhandle as heavy rain and storms continued their push through the area. The more serious tornado warnings had been issued in parts of those states, as well as portions of Mississippi, earlier in the morning.

Most of the 34 gauges with “major flooding” indicated were in the Great Plains, where rainfall was particularly heavy. The NWS reported that certain parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain between noon Saturday and 8 a.m. Monday.

That’s led to record flooding in some locations.

The NOAA reported the Illinois River near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, was at 29.92 feet, already two feet above its previous record that was set back in 1950. The river was expected to rise to 31 feet.

More rain was expected to fall later in the day, which could spur additional flooding.

The Mississippi River in Chester, Illinois, is expected to see a record crest of 49.9 feet on New Year’s Day. Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is also forecast to hit a record crest of 45.5 feet that day.

In areas with colder temperatures, that precipitation was falling as snow or freezing rain.

The NWS reported that 18 different locations in New Mexico received more than a foot of snow, including a whopping 41 inches near Bonito Lake in the Sierra Blanca mountains. Many roads in the state remained closed Monday and there were “numerous” people still stranded in vehicles.

Governors in Missouri and New Mexico have declared states of emergency.

On Monday, the snow was expected to fall in the northern United States. Some regions of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan could see 10 inches of snow, the NWS said.

Parts of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New England were under winter weather advisories as the storm was expected to travel there later Monday and into Tuesday.

Christmas time storms, tornadoes kill at least 43 in U.S.

By Lisa Maria Garza

DALLAS (Reuters) – Storms hit the U.S. South, Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during a busy travel time.

The bad weather, or the threat of it, prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency for their states.

Flash floods killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois.

In Missouri, emergency workers have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. He said at least eight people had been killed and numerous roadways had been closed.

Nixon declared a state of emergency, saying continued rains would make already widespread flooding conditions worse.

Three adults and two children were near the village of Patoka, Illinois, 85 miles (137 km) east of St. Louis, Missouri, when their car was washed away by floodwaters on Saturday night, according to Marion County Coroner Troy Cannon.

In Texas, at least 11 people were killed in the Dallas area over the weekend by tornadoes, including one packing winds of up to 200 miles per hour (322 km per hour). The twister hit the city of Garland, killing eight people and blowing vehicles off highways.

“It is total devastation,” Garland Police spokesman Lieutenant Pedro Barineau said. “It is a very difficult time to be struck by such a horrible storm the day after Christmas.”

Three other deaths were reported in the Dallas metropolitan area, the United States’ fourth most populous with about 7 million residents. Scores of people were injured in the region and officials estimated some 800 homes may have been damaged.

Powerful tornadoes are a staple of spring and summer in central states but occur less frequently in winter, according to U.S. weather data.

Three tornadoes were reported in Arkansas on Sunday, the weather service said, but there were no initial reports of significant injuries or damage.

The service has issued tornado watches and warnings for areas in that state, as well as in parts of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

A tornado watch means a storm is likely, while a warning means a storm or storms have been sighted.

The storms came on the heels of tornadoes that hit two days before Christmas, killing at least 18 people, including 10 in Mississippi.

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said his office had declared Dallas County and three nearby counties disaster areas. He also warned people to be wary of snow in western parts of the state and rivers spilling their banks in other places.

The National Weather Service issued severe weather advisories for large parts of the central United States, including a blizzard warning for parts of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and a flash flood watch stretching from Texas to Indiana.

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency for the entire state due to a winter storm that had dumped up to two feet of snow by Sunday night.

The New Mexico city of Roswell bested its one-day snowfall record, receiving 12.3 inches by Sunday evening, the Weather Service said.

The bad weather forced the cancellation of nearly 1,500 flights in the nation on Sunday, according to tracking service FlightAware.com. About half of the canceled flights were in Dallas, a major U.S. flight hub.

(Reporting by Lisa Maria Garza and Jon Herskovitz; Additonal reporting by Marice Richter in Dallas and Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Paul Tait)

Pacific Northwest Storms Claim Another Life, More Rain on the Way

The devastating rainstorms that have caused flooding, mudslides and power outages throughout the Pacific Northwest claimed another life on Wednesday, according to a published report.

The Oregonian reported an elderly woman drowned in Clatskanie, Oregon, when a man she was traveling with drove a car into high water. The man was able to escape, but the woman was not.

It was the second death caused by the storm, which also brought high winds to the region.

The Oregonian previously reported the storm sent a 30-inch diameter tree crashing into a house in Portland early Wednesday morning, pinning a 60-year-old woman in her bed. She was killed.

The National Weather Service reported that more than seven inches of rain fell in parts of Oregon and more than five inches of rain fell in parts of Washington between 4 p.m. local time Monday and 6 a.m. local time Thursday. Washington Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency after landslides closed major highways, rain led to “widespread flooding of roadways, homes and property,” and high winds left thousands without power, he said in a statement.

The storm is the latest in a line of storms to pass through the Pacific Northwest dating back to the end of last month. Inslee said the state of emergency covers all storms since Nov. 30.

The National Weather Service issued storm warnings off the Washington and Oregon coasts, as forecasts called for additional storms to arrive Thursday and this weekend. The Weather Channel reported the new storms would bring additional rain and wind, as well as snow in higher elevations. That could spur further landslides or flooding, particularly in coastal areas.

The National Weather Service reported that Thursday morning’s rainfall pushed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport over six inches in the first 10 days of December, a new record. Previously, the fastest the airport reached six inches in the month was 14 days, set in 1946 and tied in 2010.

The arrival of more rain wasn’t good news for residents who were already experiencing flooding.

At least 17 river gauges in Washington and Oregon were still in flood stage Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service. “Major flooding” was reported in the Washington cities of Snohomish, located northeast of Seattle, and Potlatch, which is northwest of Olympia. Flood warnings remained in effect for parts of Washington, largely around the Puget Sound.

More than 21,000 Puget Sound Energy customers in Washington were without power Thursday morning, the company said. Portland General Electric also reported some scattered outages.

The storm led to dozens of road closures in both Washington and Oregon. Culprits included mudslides, sinkholes rockslides and flooding. Some of the repairs were expected to be lengthy.

In Portland, the rainfall caused the city’s sewer system to overflow into two local waterways on Monday morning. The city’s Bureau of Environmental Services continued to advise residents to avoid parts of the Willamette River on Thursday morning “because of increased bacteria.”

Big November Storm Brings Tornadoes and Snow to the Central United States

A second powerful storm system in a week is causing weather havoc, bringing blizzard conditions to Colorado and the potential for strong storms and tornadoes as the system charges east.  Currently there are severe storm and tornado watches for Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Louisiana.  

This afternoon and evening we expect a line of storms to intensify with a threat of damaging wind gusts and a few embedded tornadoes. There could also be supercells ahead of the line that may also acquire rotation and spawn tornadoes as the day continues. For this reason, severe weather expert Dr. Greg Forbes of The Weather Channel has raised the TOR:CON to 5 for Tuesday afternoon and evening in portions of northeast Louisiana, southeast Arkansas and western Mississippi. This means there is a 50 percent chance of a tornado within 50 miles of any location in that area.

The system was expected to track east through Tuesday and Wednesday, with rain, damaging winds and possible tornadoes from Texas to Mississippi on Tuesday, and a possible lingering severe threat as far east as Florida on Wednesday, according to The Weather Channel.

These thunderstorms will produce torrential rainfall which will raise the risk of flash flooding from the southern Plains to the Mississippi Valley

Flooding Continues in Texas; 6 Dead, at Least 2 Missing

According to the Associated Press, six people have been killed in connection with the flooding in Texas and at least two are missing as severe weather swept across the Gulf Coast.

In the Houston area, some areas received nearly 12 inches of rain since Friday though it had mostly stopped by Saturday afternoon, and starting around 5 a.m. CT Saturday six tornadoes touched down south and east of Houston.

The storms and suspected tornadoes, which forecasters say were caused by an upper-level disturbance from Mexico, socked an already-sodden swath of Texas that was still drying out from the remnants of Hurricane Patricia.

Homes were underwater and power was out on Saturday to over 12,000 people. Several roads have been closed due to floods and damage.

The weather patterns are showing no signs of letting up as a new system is developing today that will be trouble for areas in Texas already saturated by rain.

“Rain and thunderstorms, heavy enough to prompt new flood concerns, will develop across the Plains Thursday and linger into Saturday for parts of the region,” said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Andy Mussoline.

Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas will experience rain and thunderstorms Thursday, but concern is growing that a front associated with the system may stall out over eastern Texas heading into the weekend.

Typhoon Koppu Turns Deadly, Tens of Thousands Displaced

At least 12 people have died and six more are missing since the landfall of Typhoon Koppu (Lando) in the Philippines Sunday morning.  Flooding rains continue to pelt  parts of the country with torrential downpours forcing many to flee to rooftops to wait for rescue.  

Troops have been deployed to help residents, but are struggling to access more remote areas.

This slow moving storm is predicted to take days to leave the other which means thousands of residents still have days of life-threatening rainfall ahead. The AP reported that 65,000 villagers have been displaced in the typhoon’s path, including in towns prone to flash floods and landslides.

“As expected, Koppu has stalled near Luzon in the northern Philippines,” said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. “Although its winds will continue to weaken, heavy rain will drench the region into at least Tuesday, leading to more dangerous flooding and possible mudslides.”

Typhoon Koppu is the 12th storm to hit the Philippines this year.  In 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, one of the worst storms on record slammed the Philippines, destroying entire towns and leaving more than 7000 dead or missing.

California Experiencing Flash Floods and Mudslides, Trapping Motorists

As flash floods and large hail hit areas north of Los Angeles, California emergency crews scrambled to rescue motorists that were trapped on roadways.

As some motorists took refuge on top of their cars, excavator trucks were brought to the scenes to scoop and haul mud. Approximately 15 cars were wedged in debris and 5 feet of mud and needed to be towed. Over 100 people were stranded on Interstate 5 and were still waiting for help Friday morning. So far, there have been no reports of deaths or injuries. Firefighters are still searching the roadways and abandoned cars for people who may be stuck and needing help getting to a safe area.

Two major highways and several secondary roads have been closed due to the impassable mud and debris, leaving some residents trapped inside their homes.

Between 4-6 inches of rain fell in parts of Kern and Los Angeles counties, causing the floods that have led to nearly a half dozen of water rescues.

Robert Rocha, a 37-year-old resident, was driving home from work when the storm hit.

“It was getting pretty hairy out there,” he said. “I’ve never seen it rain that hard in such a short period of time, the hail and wind — it was coming down hard,” he said. “The debris was just intense — chunks of wood and rock flowing everywhere.”