LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A new wave of violent storms Heavy rains have pounded much of the United States and Canada, causing flash flooding and sea rescues Wednesday in the Ozark Mountains, sparking a destructive tornado that blew a B-52 bomber off its base in upstate New York, and stranding drivers in high water around Toronto.
This week, a series of relentless storms have caused death and destruction from the Plains to New England, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and air conditioning during days of sweltering heat.
Up to 11 inches (28 centimeters) of rain fell overnight through Wednesday in parts of the Ozarks in Arkansas and Missouri, the National Weather Service said.
At least 80 people were evacuated from a nursing home in Yellville, Arkansas, and were taken to a community center, said Lacey Kanipe, a spokeswoman for state emergency management. A section of a bridge was washed away and a historic courthouse was flooded.
In an interview with the AP, National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Oravec said there were still many heat advisories, warnings and watches across the country.
According to Kanipe, as many as 40 residents were forced to flee their homes in the town of Flippin, and a swift-water rescue involving a recreational vehicle also took place in neighboring Baxter County. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the flooding.
Bill Scruggs and his crew from Wild Bill’s Outfitter, based south of Yellville, scrambled to rescue their canoes and kayaks from a sandbar in the Buffalo National River as waters rose rapidly before dawn Wednesday.
“Right now, that gravel bar is 8 feet underwater and it’s still rising,” Scruggs said.
Nearly 5 inches of rain fell overnight in the tourist town of Branson, Missouri. Taney County Sheriff Brad Daniels said several campgrounds were evacuated and people had to be rescued from a flooded mobile home park near Hollister.
Cities in upstate New York declared states of emergency after a storm swept through the city Tuesday, bringing high winds and spectacular lightning. A confirmed tornado in the town of Rome toppled vehicles and left streets cluttered with debris from trees, power poles and electrical transformers.
The winds were strong enough to knock a tourist attraction, a B-52 bomber, off its pedestal at Griffiss Business and Technology Park. Steeples collapsed and roofs were torn off First Presbyterian Church and St. Mary’s Church, both built in the 1800s. St. Mary’s is not an active church and is privately owned.
“These are beautiful old churches. It breaks my heart,” Rome resident Barb Mulvey posted on Facebook.
An iconic monument in Rome, a fresco depicting a figure from the War of Independence on horseback, has been destroyed, along with the building on which it was painted. All that remains is the image of a horse’s hoof.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said it was “miraculous” that no one was killed in Rome, a city of 31,000. She toured the small downtown area Wednesday and said 22 buildings were damaged or destroyed. She described trees “collapsed like toothpicks,” homes with roofs missing and mobile homes overturned with people inside.
She marveled at the people who narrowly escaped death, including two children in a medical waiting room who escaped unharmed, although the building was partially “wiped out.”
Debris from the storm struck and killed an 82-year-old man who was outside about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away in Canastota, village administrator Jeremy Ryan said.
Trees fell on homes and cars Tuesday in Keene, New Hampshire, forcing some residents to evacuate. Around Toronto, flooding temporarily closed several major roads and left motorists stranded, the Canadian Press reported.
Nearly 200,000 homes and businesses were without power Wednesday in the northeastern states, according to PowerOutage.us. The East Coast, from Maine to the Carolinas, was warned of temperatures as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) in some places.
A storm brought a Forest fire A fire broke out at a New Jersey military firing range as half an inch of rain fell, the state’s forest fire department said.
This week’s heavy rains have hit the Chicago area particularly hard. The weather service confirmed that 17 tornadoes touched down in northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, including 11 in a single series of extraordinary storms Monday night.
Utilities continued to restore power in the Midwest, where more than 100,000 homes and businesses in Illinois and Indiana remained without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.
In the United States, storms have killed at least five people, including one in New York. Flooding killed an 88-year-old couple in their car near Elsah, Illinois, on Tuesday and a 76-year-old passenger in a pickup truck in Rockford, Illinois, on Sunday. On Monday, a fallen tree killed a 44-year-old woman in Cedar Lake, Indiana.
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White reported from Detroit. Karen Matthews in New York, Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, and Nick Perry in Boston contributed to this report.
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