5 Die as Storms Cause Severe Floods in 7 States

Five people died as fierce thunderstorms swamped parts of seven states early Saturday, causing severe, sudden flooding that resulted in boat and helicopter rescues.

The rains did bring relief to parts of the country besieged by heat, but Southeast and Plains states continued to swelter. In Florida, where wildfires have consumed 218,000 acres since Memorial Day, officials said only a deluge from a tropical depression could help douse the worst of the blazes.

Rain and high winds plagued parts of Wisconsin, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont.

Lightning killed a 9-year-old girl in Baltimore and a 26-year-old camper near Lake George, 55 miles north of Albany, N.Y. An Ohio man was electrocuted by fallen power lines. In New York, near Giant Mountain in the Adirondacks, a 21-year-old man swimming in the rain-swollen Boquet River gorge was drowned, and a 19-year-old woman riding an inner tube in the Saranac River also drowned.

Thunderstorms Friday dumped nearly 4 inches of rain in northern New York, weakening the ground around a rail trestle near Port Kent, which caused a freight train to jump the tracks and sixteen cars to spill their cargo.

About 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked into a stream just 200 yards from Lake Champlain, but cleanup crews were able to contain most of it before it could reach the lake.

Three people rescued by boat in Warren, Vt., included two who spent part of the night clinging to tree branches after fleeing their mobile home before it burst loose from its foundation.

Flooding plagued parts of Wisconsin, where tens of thousands lost electricity due to fallen power lines.

In West Virginia, 3 1/2 inches of rain overnight destroyed five homes and washed out rural roads in Ritchie County.

Rain on Saturday also prompted flash flood warnings in two Pennsylvania counties, where 1 1/2 inches of rain fell in less than three hours.

Temperatures climbed into the 90s in Nebraska, which earlier in the week saw near-record power use.

“Our water park is packed,” said Scott Kirk, director of sales for Omaha’s Fun Plex.

In the Carolinas, the thermometer broke the 100-degree mark.

“It’s hot. Oh, it’s hot,” said Marsha Hogan, manager of the Pinehurst Sundry & Soda Fountain in Pinehurst, N.C.

In Florida, firefighters from six states widened trenches around the blazes on Saturday in hopes of drowning the flames in dirt.

“What we’re hoping for is a tropical depression of some kind to come into the state with 1 to 2 inches of rain daily for five days to really soak the ground,” said Greg Thayer of the U.S. Forest Service.

No rain was forecast, though.