Thunderstorms Cause More Damage in the Midwest

It seems that the Midwest is more and more affected by storms which are causing severe floods.

According to the New York Times, Monday, a system of storms came down on Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin causing some parts of the regions to flood. The situation was already bad, as the rivers and lakes were already swollen because of the thunderstorms from the past week.

Authorities said that the water levels had increased with 4 inches in some parts, over the last week. Wisconsin was inundated the second time in 10 months, reported ABC News.

Authorities said that among the damages caused by the heavy rains were broken dams, swept away houses and even 10 dead people in four states.

Mike Goetzman, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Emergency Operations Center in Madison said that about 90 roads were closed in Wisconsin, adding that many dams were at the limit. Thousands of residents were evacuated and the Red Cross was sheltering those affected by the disaster.

In Iowa the situation is pretty much the same and, in Indiana, some residents made a dock from sandbags, in order to keep the water from flooding the surroundings. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Monday that, the next day, it will close a 250-mile stretch of the Mississippi River — from Fulton, Ill., to Clarksville, Mo., reported ABC News.

As for the weather forecast, there isn’t any short term good news, as Jim Keeney, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service, said that, from Wednesday, rains would be expected in the same areas that were struggling with the flooding. On the long term, Noreen Schwein, an expert in hydrology at the National Weather Service said that, within a week, the weather would improve and the rain would stop.

“High pressure will dominate the central states, so we’ll get a break from the rainfall,” said Noreen Schwein, according to the New York Times.