Hundreds displaced, 22 died in US flooding
Updated: 2007-08-23 10:42
The river crested at 14 feet, four feet above flood stage, and began a slow fall by midafternoon to 13.2 feet, said Penny Clayton, a spokeswoman for the city. She warned of additional rain, though.
A care center was evacuated in Humboldt, Iowa, as water poured into the basement, but no one was hurt.
Thousands of homes were damaged in Wisconsin and Minnesota as the storm swept through. A preliminary survey by the American Red Cross in Minnesota identified about 4,200 affected homes, including 256 complete losses, 338 with major damage and 475 that are still inaccessible, said Kris Eide, the state's director of homeland security and emergency management.
Preliminary damage reports in Wisconsin indicate 30 homes and 25 businesses were destroyed. Another 731 homes and 32 businesses were damaged.
In addition to the confirmed flood-related deaths, a man drowned Sunday in his mother's flooded basement in Iowa after being overcome by carbon monoxide, the state medical examiner's office said. And in Madison, Wis., three people standing at a flooded intersection were apparently electrocuted Wednesday when lightning hit a utility pole, causing a power line to fall in the water, authorities and witnesses said.
In Oklahoma, which recorded a gust of 82 mph and 11 inches of rain, some 300 homes and businesses were damaged in the Kingfisher area and in Caddo County in southwestern Oklahoma, officials said. According to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2007 is so far the fourth-wettest on record in the state, with an average rainfall total of 31.96 inches, 8.42 inches above normal.
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