Heavy thunderstorms flooded portions of the central United States again today, knocking out the water supply in one Iowa city and disrupting a major transcontinental highway.
As much as 30 cm of rain fell in central Iowa during the night and flood warnings were posted for areas from northeast Kansas to northern Illinois.
Thunderstorms have raked the same sections of the Midwest for nearly a week, repeatedly dousing some areas and saturating the ground. At least 13 deaths have been blamed on the storms.
Officials in Ottumwa, a town of 25,000 in southeastern Iowa, declared an emergency today after sewage backed up into the water treatment plant and it had to be shut down.
They said the city would run out of potable water later in the day and it may be 36 hours before it can be restored. Restaurants were ordered closed and plants closed.
In the Chicago area, where a storm yesteray hit with wind gusts as high as 130 km per hour, more than a quarter of a million homes and businesses were still without electricity today morning.
High water forced Indiana officials to close the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80, a major east-west transcontinental highway. Many rural and secondary roads were under water across the region, though the situation in Ohio was improving.
Floodwaters had begun to recede in the worst-hit towns and communities but rivers remained above flood levels and 17 highways were still under water, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency said.
Weather forecasts show a continued chance of rain for several days.