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News

Severe weather, floods plague Texas, Southeast

by Paul J. Weber, The Associated Press

updated March 19, 2008 7:49 am

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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.

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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.

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.

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."

Associated Press writers Betsy Taylor in Piedmont, Mo., and Chuck
Bartels in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

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