USA Today, by Jeanine Santucci: Flood watches and warnings blanketed the nation from Texas to Ohio on Saturday as forecasters warned already deadly storms and flooding rainfall would keep going.
At least nine people have died as the storms swept over Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky, as officials warned the toll could grow. A 74-year-old in Nelson County, Kentucky, died after becoming trapped in a vehicle that responders found fully submerged in floodwaters early Saturday morning. A 9-year-old swept away by floodwaters is also among the dead.
In already ravaged Tennessee, forecasters said Saturday could be the most dangerous day of this outbreak.
“As has been said repeatedly for the last several days, this has the makings of a catastrophic, potentially historic heavy rainfall and flash flood event, with some locations potentially seeing rainfall amounts as high as 10-20″ when all is said and done,” the National Weather Service said Saturday morning.
Across a large stretch of the country that includes parts of about a dozen states from Texas to Ohio, nearly 12 million people were under flood warnings and an equal number had flood advisories Saturday morning, while 36 million more were under flood watch.
Meanwhile, forecasters said damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes are still a threat to the Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas region to the Ohio Valley on Saturday before the threat moves east to the Appalachians and Southeast on Sunday.
The inundation of rainfall is caused by an atmospheric river stalling over the region. It is expected to finally begin to move again late Saturday and into Sunday, and the threat of excessive rainfall will wane by Monday, the weather service said.
Outside the WCBL broadcasting station in Benton, Kentucky, owner Chris Freeland was hauling sandbags in tall waterproof boots as floodwaters approached Saturday morning. Freeland, also the state representative for the area, is a Benton native, and said “never in my life” have floodwaters come up so high at the station.
“I’m worried,” Freeland told the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. “With more rain coming, and all the threat that they’re talking about, who knows? We’ve been here for 70-something years in this building. It’s never gotten past the front steps … We’ll see.”
Train derails after floodwaters wash out track
Several cars of a train derailed early Saturday morning after floodwaters damaged a railroad bridge, sending train cars tumbling into the water in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas.
BNSF Railway said the train was stopped on the bridge because of weather alerts in the area.
“Heavy flood waters washed out the bridge and derailed multiple cars,” the railway said in a statement, adding that it received the report about the derailment at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Three cars were derailed, three ended up in the river and five were on the washed out track, BNSF said.
Roads and towns already flooded out as rain continues
In Kentucky and the Ohio River valley, towns were already inundated with floodwaters and roads were covered with water while forecasters predicted 4 to 8 inches of additional rainfall over the weekend, the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
Parts of the town of Hopkinsville in Christian County flooded after 8.6 inches of rain fell in 48 hours. In Marshall County, more than 8.7 inches fell in that time.
“It is only going to get worse over the next few days,” the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency said.
In Clarksville, Tennessee, Candace Payne told the Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, that her home was filling with water for the third time in two years. Clarksville has seen over 5 inches of rain in the last few days, according to the National Weather Service, with more on the way. After flooding hit her home in February, Payne said she’s been living in a rented apartment while still paying her mortgage.
“I’m not sure how much more I can take,” she said. “My home was everything I worked for and now I have nothing left.”
Rivers could overflow from heavy rainfall
Repeating rounds of rainfall are likely to cause rivers to flood across the Ozarks, portions of the lower and middle Mississippi valleys, and the lower Ohio Valley, the weather service said. The threat will continue into next week even after rain has stopped falling.
In Ohio, the weather service issued flood warnings for areas along the banks of some of Cincinnati’s prominent rivers. The Ohio River water level was at 51 feet Saturday morning and is expected to reach 60 feet by Monday, putting it at moderate risk for flooding.
As the Ohio River Valley is inundated with rain, Kentucky creeks were already spilling over their banks on Friday and feeding major rivers, many of which are expected to hit major or moderate flood levels, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
Prophetic Link:
“There will soon be a sudden change in God’s dealings. The world in its perversity is being visited by casualties,—by floods, storms, fires, earthquakes, famines, wars, and bloodshed. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power; yet He will not at all acquit the wicked. “The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.” O that men might understand the patience and longsuffering of God! He is putting under restraint His own attributes. His omnipotent power is under the control of Omnipotence.” Final Events, 356
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