The Nation - News from Aug. 22, 1988

Heavy rain caused flooding in Phoenix and across parts of the Florida Panhandle, while hail pelted west-central Minnesota. A duty officer at the Arizona Department of Public Safety said that State Route 85 was almost completely under water, with numerous stranded vehicles. Red Cross officials reported several flooded farmhouses west of Phoenix, caused mostly by overflowing irrigation ditches, and there were reports of damage near Surprise, about 25 miles northwest of Phoenix. Nearly 3 inches of rain fell in six hours at Pensacola, Fla., and more than an inch fell at Biloxi, Meridian and Jackson, Miss., and Cape Hatteras, N. C. In Minnesota, heavy rain and small hail fell at Fergus Falls and near Battle Lake, and 1-inch-diameter hail fell at nearby Detroit Lakes.