Storms, Tornado Watches Cancel Hundreds of Flights at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport

High wind and heavy rain grounded hundreds of flights at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Tuesday, and a control tower was briefly evacuated when a funnel cloud was spotted. The same weather system caused flooding elsewhere and one drowning was reported in Missouri. The National Weather Service posted flood and flash flood warnings from Texas to Ohio, with tornado watches in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

American Airlines canceled flights scheduled from late morning through the end of the day, affecting some 700 departures and arrivals, and more than 100 of the carrier's flights headed to D-FW were diverted, said airline spokesman Tim Wagner. The airlines are bringing planes back from the tarmac to the gate, and it's going to be a tough afternoon, airport spokesman Ken Capps said.

Federal Aviation Administration officials evacuated the airport's west tower for about 15 minutes after seeing a funnel cloud in the area. Another funnel cloud was spotted over Lake Lewisville, just north of the airport. At Dallas Love Field, some 20 Southwest flights were canceled, 20 others were diverted and many other flights were delayed, said airline spokeswoman Ashley Rogers.

Parts of southern Missouri had flooding after as much as 4 inches of rain fell during the morning. An additional 2 to 4 inches of rain was possible. About 200 homes and businesses were flooded in Piedmont, Mo., a town of about 2,000 residents, because of flooding on McKenzie Creek, said Wayne County Emergency Management Director Eric Fuchs. No injuries were reported.

Up to 30 homes were evacuated in Winona, Mo., and dozens of rural roads were blocked by water in southwest Missouri. One man drowned in Ellington, Mo., about 120 miles southwest of St. Louis, State Water Patrol Lt. Nicholas Humphrey said. Some roads also were flooded in northern Arkansas. In Ohio, where the threat of heavy rain combined with melting snow, Vinton County dismissed schools early on Tuesday because of rising water on roads.

_©FOXnews

Central U.S. floods leave 2 dead, ground flights
Warnings posted from Texas to Ohio; hundreds of Dallas flights canceled

DALLAS - Airlines faced passenger backlogs Wednesday from hundreds of flights grounded by storms that chased people from flooded homes and deluged roads in the nation’s midsection, killing at least two people in Missouri and sweeping a teen down a drainage pipe in Texas. The National Weather Service posted flood and flash flood warnings from Texas to Ohio, with tornado watches in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Emergency officials in Mesquite, Texas, searched for a 14-year-old boy apparently swept away by floodwaters as he and a friend played in a creek. The friend was able to swim to safety, authorities said. In northern Arkansas, rescuers searched for a man whose truck was believed to have been swept from a low-water bridge in West Fork. Authorities found only the vehicle. Heavy rain began falling Monday and just kept coming. Forecasters said parts of Missouri could get 10 inches or more. The storms were expected to finally stop Wednesday. Cape Girardeau County had received nearly 8 inches of rain by Tuesday afternoon, trapping some residents in their homes. About 50 roads were closed in Christian County after 7 inches of rain fell.

Hundreds of flights canceled
More than 6 inches of rain drenched areas around Dallas, including record rainfall at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where more than half of the 950 scheduled flights Tuesday were canceled. Winds of more than 100 mph were briefly reported at the airport, which received a single-day record of 2.35 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. The previous high of 1.52 inches was set in 1984, the weather service said. At least 11 more cancellations were expected Wednesday morning, and airport officials warned passengers to brace for more delays and cancellations as airlines rebuild their schedules. “This is one of the most vicious thunderstorms DFW has seen in quite some time, especially its ongoing intensity,” airport spokesman Ken Capps said. Federal Aviation Administration officials evacuated the airport’s west tower for about 15 minutes Tuesday morning after seeing a funnel cloud. By Tuesday night, the airport was accepting about 50 arrivals and departures an hour — less than half the usual 120 flights that use the airport’s seven runways every hour, officials said.

Hundreds of people in Lancaster, south of Dallas, were advised to evacuate their homes as the Ten Mile Creek rose. By evening, the creek waters had receded. One woman was rescued from her yard and four people were rescued from their vehicles, city spokeswoman Ciciely Hickmon said. In Arkansas, residents in parts of Baxter, Madison, and Sharp counties were evacuated because of rising floodwaters, said Tommy Jackson, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. The Spring River was rising at a rate of 6 inches per hour Tuesday, and debris flowing in it included full-size trees. Officials said dangerous flows were occurring in Mammoth Spring and Salem, where the river was out of its banks.

Missouri National Guard activated
To the north, Gov. Matt Blunt activated the Missouri National Guard on Tuesday as high water closed hundreds of roads. About 300 of the 900 homes in Piedmont, Mo., were evacuated when the McKenzie Creek flowed over its banks and caused flooding 2 to 3 feet deep in the center of the town, about 125 miles south of St. Louis. Dozens of people were rescued in about 15 to 20 boat trips. Up to 30 homes were evacuated in Winona, and some residents of Cape Girardeau were trapped in their homes, according to the State Emergency Management Agency. In Ellington, as many as 50 homes and half the businesses were evacuated, officials said. The body of an 81-year-old man was found in the water at Ellington, said Missouri State Water Patrol Lt. Nicholas Humphrey. A 21-year-old state Department of Transportation worker was killed near Springfield when his dump truck was hit by a tractor-trailer as he helped out in a flooded area, officials said. Scott and Marilyne Peterson and their 25-year-old son, Scott Jr., scurried out of their mobile home in Piedmont after watching the water rise 3 feet in five minutes. The family had just enough time to grab some essentials, a few clothes and the family dog.“You didn’t have time to worry,” Scott Peterson Sr. said. “You just grab what you can and go and you’re glad the people are OK.”

_{Bron: MSNBC}

<sub>Fedex driver Jay McMullin helps 78-year-old Odell Bunch into the delivery truck after Bunch's Ford Ranger was swept off of Hwy 34 by flood waters. Torrential rains that hammered southern Missouri caused widespread flooding Tuesday that left at least four people dead, hundreds homeless, closed nearly 200 roads and sent propane tanks and debris spiraling down lowlands turned into raging rivers.


Hubble Creek overflowed its banks, sweeping through Jackson City Park. Torrential rains that hammered southern Missouri caused widespread flooding Tuesday that left at least four people dead, hundreds homeless, closed nearly 200 roads and sent propane tanks and debris spiraling down lowlands turned into raging rivers.


A truck makes its way down water-covered road outside Delta. Torrential rains that hammered southern Missouri caused widespread flooding Tuesday that left at least four people dead, hundreds homeless, closed nearly 200 roads and sent propane tanks and debris spiraling down lowlands turned into raging rivers.


Debris sits atop a bridge in Jackson, Mo. Heavy rain caused widespread flooding Tuesday in Missouri, chasing hundreds of people from their homes. The storm, which covered much of the nation's center, was blamed for at least four deaths.

©FOXnews</sub>

Doden door noodweer in VS

eker dertien mensen zijn de afgelopen 48 uur omgekomen door noodweer in het midden van de Verenigde Staten, meldde CNN donderdag. Drie mensen worden nog vermist.

In het zuiden van de staten Illinois, Indiana, Ohio en in Arkansas zorgden stortbuien voor flinke overstromingen. De Nationale weersdienst heeft gewaarschuwd voor overstromingen van Texas tot aan Pennsylvania.

Redddingswerkers hebben hun handen vol. "Het grootste probleem zijn de mensen die met hun auto een overstroming inrijden", zei een reddingswerker in Ohio. "Er zijn zoveel domme lui. Als op een bord staat 'weg dicht, hoog water', dan betekent het dat ook."

_©Nu.nl

Heavy Rains Hit Northeast and Ohio Valley After Swamping Homes and Roads Across Midwest


March 19: Rescuers Scott Trodglen, left, and Amanda Coghill evacuate Katie Rheinhardt, Amy Thomas, Andrew Rheinhardt and daughter Reed from their flooded home in Kentucky.


March 18: Fedex driver Jay McMullin helps 78-year-old Odell Bunch into the delivery truck after Bunch's Ford Ranger was swept off by flood waters.


March 18: Vehicles stop at a roadway blocked by floodwaters near Springfield, Mo


March 18: Normally low enough to drive through with a vehicle, Hubble Creek rushed through Jackson City Park in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Residents warily watched as rivers continued to rise Thursday from heavy storms that dumped as much as a foot of rain in the Midwest and left behind more than a dozen deaths. While the first day of spring brought much needed sunshine Thursday to Ohio and other states, authorities warned that many rivers would crest well above flood stage. Flooding also was reported Wednesday in parts of Arkansas, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
Lees hier de rest van het artikel

_{Bron: Fox News} | Gewijzigd: 13 februari 2017, 12:04 uur, door Joyce.s

New government forecast: Wider spring floods
Threat from rains, snowmelt covers good portion of the country

WASHINGTON - Government forecasters said the floods washing over large parts of the Midwest are just a taste of things to come.

The National Weather Service said that record rainfall and melting snowpacks will continue to cause rivers to overflow in large areas of the country.

The greatest flooding danger includes much of the Mississippi River basin, the Ohio River basin, the lower Missouri River basin, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, most of New York, all of New England and portions of the West, including Colorado and Idaho.

_{Bron: MSNBC}

Floods plague several midwestern states

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Floods that ravaged a broad swathe of the Midwest from Missouri eastward to the Ohio Valley contributed to deaths of more than a dozen people, according to reports on Thursday.

President George W. Bush declared 70 Missouri counties as disaster areas, and the National Guard was deployed in hard-hit areas of the state after deadly storms that dumped up to a foot of rain sent rivers out of their banks.

Media and official reports across the Midwest region said more than a dozen people had died, some swept away by flood waters, others in traffic accidents blamed on the storms and high waters.

"The worst of the rain is over with," said Rob Miller, a meteorologist with AccuWeather. But he said flood waters will not peak in some areas until Saturday.

The Missouri Emergency Management Agency reported dozens of homes destroyed or damaged across the state, and widespread evacuations. It listed five flood-related deaths in the state and said state roads were closed by high water at more than 200 points.

Forecasters meanwhile greeted the first day of spring with winter weather warnings, with a new storm expected to dump up to 6 inches (15.2) of snow from southeastern North Dakota through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, eastward to the mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia on Friday and Saturday.

_{Bron: Reuters}

Slecht weer blijft in de VS zorgen voor overlast

In het Amerikaanse midwesten zijn door hevige regenstormen al minstens zestien doden gevallen. Op sommige plaatsen stonden rivieren vrijdag al meer dan een dag buiten hun oevers en steeg het waterpeil nog steeds. Verwacht wordt dat het water pas in het weekend zal beginnen met zakken.

Het zwaarst getroffen zijn de staten Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana en Kentucky. Donderdag, de eerste dag van de lente, scheen in contrast met de hevige buien van de dagen ervoor op veel plaatsen de zon. De problemen zijn echter nog niet voorbij, omdat volgens de overheid regen en smeltwater vanuit hogergelegen gebieden de komende dagen voor meer overstromingen kunnen zorgen in het midwesten en noordoosten van het land.



Voor de omgeving van Chicago is een zware sneeuwstorm voorspeld, die met plaatselijk meer dan twintig centimeter sneeuw voor grote overlast kan gaan zorgen. In het noorden van Maine is al een halve meter sneeuw gevallen.

_{©De Pers}

A new levee holds back floodwaters of the Meramec river Thursday, March 20, 2008 in Valley Park, Mo. Valley Park is protected by a flood levee completed in 2005, but the projected 40-foot-crest there on Saturday would reach within three feet of the top of the levee. As a result, many homeowners, merchants and even schools were moving to higher ground. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
9:53 a.m. ET, 3/21/08


VALLEY PARK, MO - MARCH 21: The Meramec River continues to rise as a commuter drives down Missouri highway 141 on March 21, 2008 in Valley Park, Missouri. The river was at 33.1 feet this morning, rising against the city's new levee toward an expected crest of 40 feet late Saturday.


Floodwaters from the Meramec River cover a portion of Pacific, Mo. Friday, March 21, 2008.


Volunteers navigate the flood waters of the Black River next to Business 60 south in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Thursday March 20, 2008.
11:28 a.m. ET, 3/20/08


Floodwaters from the swollen Black River surround a church and a racetrack Thursday, March 20, 2008 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Parts of Missouri got a foot of rain over a 36-hour period this week, causing widespread flash flooding and swelling many river


A flood-damaged building sits on the banks of the White River, Friday, March 21, 2008 over Newport, Ark. The storms began Monday and by Wednesday night up to a foot of rain had fallen across northern Arkansas.



_{Bron: MSNBC}
  | Gewijzigd: 13 februari 2017, 12:05 uur, door Joyce.s

Meramec River Crests at Near-Record Level as Midwest Battles Flood Damage


March 22: The curious visit the flooded intersection of state route 141 and Interstate 44 caused by the overflowing Meramec River in Fenton, Mo.


March 20: Dan Ward and his eight year-old son Westey Ward look out over the flooding Meramec River at Valley Park, Mo.


March 21: Mary Griswold battles a heavy snowfall as she make her way to work in Kalamazoo, Mich.

VALLEY PARK, Mo. — Residents' trust in their community's new levee was justified Saturday as the earthen wall protected their town from the Meramec River, bloated by heavy rain that caused flooding across the Midwest. The Meramec crested at about midday at 37.8 feet — its record there is 39.7 feet — the National Weather Service said. That was just over 3 feet below the top of the levee. Upstream in Eureka, the river crested several hours earlier at 40 feet, below that town's record of 42.9 feet. The high water pushing against the other side of the Valley Park levee didn't bother customers at Meramec Jack's bar and grill, where owner Tracy Ziegler was pouring cold beer Saturday morning.

Ziegler, 47, had been confident all along that the levee would hold. "I haven't even lifted my computer off the floor in the office," said Ziegler, who bought the bar in 2005, just after the Army Corps of Engineers finished the levee a few hundred yards away. "Why would they spend $50 million if they expected it to fail?" she said. Flood-weary residents of Missouri, Arkansas and Ohio also were fighting to save their homes after heavy rain pushed rivers out of their banks.

In addition to this past week's rain, a lingering storm blew more snow through parts of the Upper Midwest on Saturday, a day after as much as a foot of snow canceled flights and some Good Friday services in parts of southern Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota. Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport was closed overnight because of the snow, and reopened late Saturday morning. About 200 people had to spend the night at the terminal, said airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe. Some outgoing flights were still canceled Saturday because planes couldn't get to the airport Friday night, she said. Milwaukee's 12.4 inches of snow Friday brought the city's total this season to 96 inches, its second-heaviest on record.

Farther east, in Ohio, Cleveland and Youngstown each had 7 inches of snow and counting by Saturday, just two weeks after the Cleveland area saw a foot of snow, the weather service said. At least 16 deaths have been linked to the weather over the past week, and two people are missing since their vehicles were swept away by rushing water in Arkansas. Parts of the Midwest got a foot of rain over a 36-hour period this week, causing widespread flash flooding. The worst flooding was along smaller rivers. The Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers saw only minor flooding. The Army Corps of Engineers expects the $49 million levee at Valley Park to hold. If it were to break or was overtopped, nearly one-third of the homes in the town of 6,500 people could be damaged or destroyed. Authorities were taking no chances and set up a staging area of rescue trucks and stationed a boat in a school parking lot near the town. "The center of the flood fight now moves right here to the Meramec River and southern St. Louis County and Jefferson County," Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said late Friday. In southern Missouri, water poured through breaches in levees and forced authorities to evacuate towns west of Cape Girardeau. At least 200 homes and 13 businesses have been evacuated in Cape Girardeau County, said emergency management director Dick Knaup. At least 70 Missouri counties have reported flooding this week. Rivers receded Friday in Ohio, but several areas remained under flood warnings. About 60 state roads were closed or partly blocked by flooding; crews were trying to pump water off a major route into Columbus, according to the State Highway Patrol. Residents of the tiny Arkansas community of Georgetown along the White River were urged to leave the area Friday after forecasters said rising water would cut off their access and strand them well into next week. "Stock up or get out. You may be there a few days," said Steve Bays, a weather service hydrologist in North Little Rock.

_{Bron: Fox} | Gewijzigd: 13 februari 2017, 12:05 uur, door Joyce.s