Flood warnings in the USA
Many parts of the USA have seen a harsh winter so far with vast areas experiencing heavy rain and snow, freezing rain, blizzards and tornadoes.
Recently, a powerful storm swept across a swathe of the USA, causing the devastating tornado outbreak that smashed through the south US a few days ago. The same system produced heavy snowfall in the upper Midwest and large amounts of rain for Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio.
Heavy rain yesterday and overnight on top of recent snow and ice has prompted severe flood warnings for rivers across northwestern Ohio, in particular, for the city of Findlay. Rising waters from the Blanchard River in Findlay has forced the evacuation of dozens of homes and businesses along the river, with many already flooded. Homeowners waded through the waist deep waters yesterday to begin assessing the damage to their homes.
Flood warnings were also issued for parts of Indiana, Illinois and New York after days of heavy rain and snow.
Many rivers are expected to reach their peak through the rest of today. Forecasters are expecting a spell of drier weather for central and western parts of the USA for coming few days, so areas that have been worst affected by the floods should show signs of improvement during the weekend. Further east, another low pressure system is expected to develop near the Great Lakes this weekend. The storm is likely to move southeast into northwestern USA bringing strong, bitterly cold arctic winds and the risk of further heavy snowfall into the start of next week.
