Central U.S. Already Awash but Rain Keeps On Falling

Floodwaters swamped the central section of the nation today, forcing more than 2,100 Illinois families out of their homes, pushing a Wisconsin dam near the breaking point and filling an Oklahoma school bus with two feet of water.

Illinois was among the worst hit states with four deaths and $30 million in damage blamed on the floods. Three counties were declared disaster areas.

“This could be the worst flood disaster in the history of Illinois, as far as damages go,” said Greg Durham, assistant to the director of Illinois Emergency Services and Disaster Agency.

Flooding also was reported in Montana, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Thunderstorms that stretched from the Ohio Valley into the southern Plains poured rain on areas already saturated by showers, the National Weather Service said.

In eastern Oklahoma, nearly three inches of rain overnight unleashed flooding that swept one man to his death and sent water crashing through downtown Tahlequah windows, officials said.

“This is as bad as we’ve ever had since 1941,” said R. V. Thomas, Muskogee County Civil Defense director. “Muskogee County’s flooding from one end to the other.”

A school bus stalled near Checotah in McIntosh County and the children had to stand on their seats to escape the water. A wrecker towed the bus to safety.

Civil Defense workers and Oklahoma National Guard members began rescuing stranded motorists and residents at daylight. Up to 10 feet of water covered Muskogee streets.

Constant Watch

In Montello in south-central Wisconsin, about 300 residents were allowed to return home today, but Marquette County officials kept a constant watch on a 20-foot-high dam on Lawrence Lake weakened by high waters from heavy rains.

The water level behind the dam began to drop by about 9 p.m. Tuesday after flood gates on the dam and at dams downriver were opened. Some water also washed over the top and seeped out of the base of the dam.

“Emergency crews are at the scene, monitoring the dam very closely,” a sheriff’s dispatcher in Marquette County said today. “We are told the thing will fail. We just don’t know when.”