On Monday (August 17), thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, and flash floods continued to threaten large areas from the U.S. Midwest to the central Atlantic region, with the severe weather that has already caused casualties persisting.
The National Weather Service in the United States stated that heavy rainfall and thunderstorm weather will continue for another day until a cold front sweeps across the East Coast on Tuesday, changing the weather pattern. Meanwhile, much of West Virginia, southeastern Ohio, and northeastern Kentucky are under flood warnings and will continue into Monday night. The lingering flooding from previous heavy rains has not completely receded, increasing the likelihood of flash floods.
In Indiana, several days of thunderstorms and floods have already claimed at least 7 lives. On Sunday (August 16), floodwaters along the White River in Indianapolis began to recede, with rainfall diminishing in other parts of the state. However, on Monday morning, some areas in Randolph County in eastern central Indiana remained under flood alerts, with the storms having brought 1 to 2 inches (about 25 to 51 millimeters) of rainfall by 8 a.m.
Jacob Spence, Director of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Emergency Services Agency, said, “While we have seen encouraging trends, the work is far from over.”
Officials in the city launched a website on Sunday to offer support to affected residents.
This storm, which started on August 11, has ravaged Indiana for a week, causing river levels to reach record highs and severely damaging or washing away roads and bridges.
According to data from the “PowerOutage.US” project tracking power outages nationwide, as of Monday morning, over 106,000 power company customers in the state were still without electricity. This is an improvement compared to the peak of about 300,000 outages.
In recent days, powerful storms have ravaged the U.S. Midwest and other regions, bringing heavy rain and destructive floods. From Illinois to western Pennsylvania, tornadoes, heavy rainfall, and flash floods have caused severe damage to local communities.
The National Weather Service predicts that from the Ohio Valley upstream to the central Appalachian Mountains, there will be heavy rainfall and thunderstorms, with the possibility of severe storms in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina on Monday night.
Translated and adapted from an Associated Press report.