Storms Bring Midwest Snow, South Floods, 8 Deaths

Wind-driven snow that paralyzed travel across the Midwest on Sunday was blamed for two traffic deaths, while six people lost their lives and 2,000 were forced from their homes by storms and flooding in the South.

More than a foot of snow fell across the central Plains and Midwest, filling roadside motels with idled motorists and stranding others in their cars.

In Elba, Ala., a creek swollen by four days of rain burst a levee, forcing about 2,000 people to flee.

Water also closed many roads across southern Alabama, and emergency officials warned of continued flooding for the next couple of days. Gov. Forrest “Fob” James Jr. declared a state of emergency in the southern half of the state and ordered the National Guard out to help with evacuations and sandbagging.

A 250-mile stretch of Interstate 80 across Nebraska was closed for a second day, with other roads closed in Kansas. Snow carried by 40-mph wind cut visibility in places, and drifts were reported up to 8 feet high in Des Moines.

People were snowbound in their cars along a highway near Nebraska City, said Diane Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Gov. Ben Nelson.

Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa bore the brunt of the storm, with 13 inches of snow Sunday in central Iowa, a foot in parts of Nebraska and 9 to 10 inches in Kansas. Wind gusting to more than 50 mph blew cars off slippery roads near Grand Island, Neb., on Saturday.

Stranded motorists filled up motels in Kansas, where a woman was killed when her 15-year-old son lost control of their car. A 62-year-old man died when the car he was riding in was hit head-on by a van.

In Alabama, water from Beaver Dam Creek, a tributary of the Pea River, rushed into downtown Elba during the morning, filling streets up to 6 feet deep, Fire Chief Lloyd Driggers said. About half the city’s 4,000 residents were evacuated.

Elba’s levee was rebuilt after it failed during a 1990 flood that sent water up to the roofs of some homes and businesses. Officials thought it would withstand another flood.

Authorities found the body of a child and a 59-year-old man who were in a vehicle that was swept away by the water Sunday morning, Police Chief Ronnie Whitworth said.

At rural Gantt in Covington County, a motorist drowned when he drove into a washed-out section of road, the sheriff said.

Two people died Saturday during thunderstorms in Mobile, 128 miles southwest of Elba.

One was struck by lightning and the other was swept into a drainage ditch.

A woman was killed by lightning Saturday in Louisiana during hailstorms.