Roads Flooded, Rivers Swell : Central States Soaked by Torrential Downpours

Persistent thunderstorms Thursday clung to the central United States as torrential downpours soaked parts of Iowa with more than six inches of rain, flooded roads and crops and threatened to force residents to higher ground.

Flooding is getting to be old hat in the area, said a sheriff’s dispatcher in Page County in southwest Iowa. “Every time it rains, we think, ‘Shoot, here we go again.’ We may have to do a few evacuations if the water rises much more.”

The National Weather Service issued pre-dawn flash-flood warnings for Page, Mills and Montgomery counties as the rain-swollen Nishnabotna River threatened to overrun its banks.

“We’re telling people to just stay inside for now, but we may have to evacuate some of the lower areas if it gets a whole lot worse,” said a police spokeswoman in the Page County town of Clarinda, where there was four feet of standing water in some places. Three inches of rain fell in one hour south of Clarinda, the weather service said. Six inches of rain was measured at Wales, Iowa.

Thunderstorms Thursday morning were scattered from Wisconsin and Michigan to Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

In Texas, 2 1/2 inches of rain fell in 2 1/2 hours in the Houston area just before the morning rush hour, flooding major intersections and sending water swirling over curbs on side streets.

Rush-hour traffic was a mess, said Cindy Paonessa of the Houston Police Department. There were 35 major and minor accidents by 7:30 a.m. since the rain started, she said. “I woke up at 4:30 this morning and it was pouring, and it’s been pouring ever since.

“The water is pretty deep. We’ve got streets impassable at . . . six major locations and stalled cars are everywhere,” she said.

The overloaded storm sewers built up enough pressure beneath Houston streets to pop 20 to 30 manhole covers. Crews from the city Street Department were sent out to retrieve and replace the heavy covers.

“It’s easy for motorists to fall in because they can’t see the hole under the water,” Paonessa said. “A car will fall in, and we’ll get that one out, and another car will come right behind and fall in too.”

Rain pushed the Papio Creek north of Papillion, Neb., over its banks Thursday morning, but there were no reports of serious flooding.