2 Die in Flooding; Stormy Weather Widespread

Storms plastered New England with heavy snow Friday, and Oklahoma officials searched for a little boy missing after flash floods that killed two other children. A tornado touched down in Texas, ripping the roof from a home.

In the Northwest, boats were ripped from their moorings and thousands lost power as wind blew up to 40 m.p.h. through the Puget Sound area.

The tornado tore the roof off a house in Van Vleck, Tex., about 50 miles southwest of Houston, said Skipper Osborne, chief deputy of the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Department.

Three elderly people inside the house escaped injury, but the house was virtually destroyed, Osborne said.

Up to six inches of rain fell across southeastern Texas, prompting flash flood watches.

Snow fell early Friday and late Thursday across parts of New York state, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. In central New Hampshire, nine inches fell at Lincoln, and Plymouth got eight inches. In Upstate New York, Waterford got eight inches. Seven inches fell at St. Johnsbury, Vt.

In southern Maine, more than six inches of snow caused numerous minor traffic accidents. Classes were canceled in dozens of school districts.

Divers searched Friday for a boy who was swept into a creek in southeastern Oklahoma City by flooding caused by heavy rain Thursday. The flooding killed two other children and temporarily flooded some cities in southwestern Oklahoma.

At Lawton, Okla., the annual Easter pageant at the Holy City of the Wichitas was postponed because of four inches of rain and the prospect of more over the weekend, the director said Friday. The pageant has been held every year since 1926 with the exception of 1937, when it was closed by sleet and ice.

A 9-year-old girl in Lawton drowned when her family’s car was swept into a creek. The body of an 8-year-old boy was recovered from the Oklahoma City creek; he and the missing 8-year-old were hunting frogs when the creek flooded and swept them away.

“We warn these kids every time it rains to not go near the creek, and it just doesn’t do any good,” said Dilver Teelman, grandfather of one of the boys.