Rain, Storms Lead To Rescues, Power Outages

FORT WORTH, Texas - Rain and storms moved across most of North Texas Tuesday morning, leading to flash flood warnings, accidents and power outages.

The heaviest rain was reported in Ellis and Dallas counties, where flash flood warnings were issued Tuesday morning.

Blackwater River Crests, Franklin Flooding Remains

FRANKLIN, Va. (AP) -- The rain-swollen Blackwater River crested this morning at near-record levels, and about 65 businesses and about a dozen homes in Franklin suffered at least some flood damage.

Captain Tim Dunn with Franklin's fire and rescue department says floodwaters also may have caused four empty C-S-X train cars to derail at 1:30 a-m on tracks over the river at the Isle of Wight County line.

He says no one was injured, but the cars were stuck in flood waters by the river.

Flooding after weekend downpours forced downtown Franklin to close yesterday, and Dunn says city workers won't be able to get into the area until at least tomorrow morning to assess the damage.

Early snow hits South Lake Tahoe, disrupts morning traffic

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — An unexpected winter-like storm blanketed the South Lake Tahoe area with several inches of snow early Tuesday, disrupting traffic and forcing highway workers to scramble the snowplows.
All roads and passes remained open, but tire chains were required early in the day on highways 88 and 50.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Betsy Legg in South Lake Tahoe said officers had responded to multiple spinouts and minor collisions.

"The snow is more than we'd expected," she said.

The snow began about midnight and was three to six inches deep by midmorning in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.

After finding a brush hidden beneath the golf clubs in the back of his SUV, Lake Tahoe resident Thom McAleer sweeps the windshield of about 4 inches of snow before heading into work in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2006.

Flooding closes highways outside Seward, Valdez


Flood waters flow through a yard around Mile 6 of the Seward Highway near Seward, Alaska, Monday Oct. 9, 2006.

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Flooding brought on by heavy rain closed highways leading out of Valdez and Seward, officials said Tuesday.
The Alaska Department of Transportation closed the Richardson Highway Monday night between miles 13 and 79. The road connects Valdez to the rest of the state.

Crews were just beginning to assess damage Tuesday morning, said DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy in Fairbanks.

Major damage occurred in Keystone Canyon, which starts near Mile 13.

"It looks like a river," McCarthy said.

Four bridges in the canyon were affected. One was moved 5 feet by the rushing water, she said. A bridge design crew from Juneau was mobilizing to assess damage.

McCarthy said there were reports of people stranded along the highway but had not confirmed at 10 a.m. whether they were motorists or residents living along the road.

On the north end, the agency closed the road at Tonsina Lodge, a roadhouse where southbound travelers could decide whether to wait or turn around. The road was impassible at Mile 58, where 6 feet of debris covered the road, McCarthy said.

Other spots along the road were simply covered by water.

"We have water across the road from flooding creeks or overburdened culverts," McCarthy said.

In a photo released by the Alaska Department of Transportation, the Lowe River, left, runs past a damaged section of the Richardson Highway running through Keystone Canyon north of Valdez, Alaska, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2006. Floodwaters severely damaged a 66-mile stretch of the highway closing the road and blocking Valdez from the rest of Alaska. (AP Photo/Alaska Department of Transportation)


Thai floods to cause havoc until end of October


A Thai teenager walks through a flooded market in Bangkok. Severe flooding has already killed 39 people in Thailand and will continue to wreak havoc until the end of October as heavy rains were expected.(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

BANGKOK (AFP) - Severe flooding has already killed 39 people in Thailand and will continue to wreak havoc until the end of October as heavy rains were expected.

"The current low pressure will continue to influence the weather and that will cause heavy rains to continue until the end of this month," Smith Dharmasaroj, the chairman of the National Disaster Warning Center, told AFP.

Flooding caused by heavy rain in the wake of Typhoon Xangsane has killed 39 people since late August and affected up to two million people in 46 provinces, mostly in central and northern Thailand.

Some 17 provinces, including Bangkok, were still flooded Wednesday. But floodwater had subsided in 29 other provinces.

The capital saw some of its worst flooding this year late Tuesday, with major roads turned into rivers and other, dry streets gridlocked as people tried to avoid rising waters.

The Royal Irrigation Department said that the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej had allowed flood waters to be diverted onto his private land in Ayutthaya province in a bid to spare Bangkok.

Ayutthaya has also been badly hit, but following the king's initiative, villagers there agreed to allow the authorities to divert water onto their farmland to reduce the flood danger posed to Bangkok.

"The move has remarkably reduced a large volume of overflow to the capital," said the Royal Irrigation Department's director general, Samart Chokanapitak.

One Ayutthaya resident said he did not mind the province shouldering overflow water if it helped Bangkok. But he said that farmers must be paid compensation if they suffered as a result.

"The whole province has been devastated by the floods," said 43-year-old Apichet Sathapornamornvuth.

The devastation to farmland had pushed up vegetable prices, mainly in flood-hit areas, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

"Prices of some vegetables and fruit have risen after the flood destroyed farmland but the increase was not significant and there is no shortage so far," said Siriphol Yodmuangcharoen, the director general of the Internal Trade Department.

In neighboring Myanmar, at least 10 people were killed and three are missing as the worst floods in recent memory swept through the area around the central city of Mandalay.

Winter-like conditions dominate

A major storm system centered over the Great Lakes, that took shape on Wednesday, will peak in intensity on Thursday producing a prolonged period of wind and snow that will last until Friday. A significant cold front associated with this storm is sweeping across the eastern two-thirds of the country bringing with it the coldest air of the season so far. The storm will create very strong, potentially damaging winds from the northern Plains to the Upper Midwest to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.
Blizzard conditions
The windiest conditions will be found across the Upper Midwest and northern Great Lakes (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan), and the central and southern Appalachians. These areas could see sustained winds of 25-35 mph and numerous gusts above 50 mph. The storm will produce accumulating snow especially in the Arrowhead of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Winter storm warnings are in effect for these areas, where more than six inches of snow is expected through Thursday evening, as well as blowing and drifting snow. In fact, up to two feet of snow (with higher drifts), can be expected along the Keweenaw Peninsula on the U.P. of Michigan. The falling snow and very strong winds could create a zero visibility environment -- blizzard conditions may be met at times on Wednesday night leading into much of the day on Thursday. Power outages can be expected where strong winds combined with heavy, wet snow stress trees with foliage still on them.
Coldest temps yet
The most widespread effect from this storm will be the invasion of the coldest air of the season. The cold air advanced into the U.S. from Canada early on Wednesday morning and continued to press south and east throughout the day. High temperatures from the Plains (including the southern Plains) to the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, and mid-South will be 15-25 degrees below average on Thursday and by Friday the cold air mass will have spread across the entire eastern two-thirds of the country. Widespread lows in the 20s from the Plains to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley are expected by Friday morning with lows dropping to the 30s in the mid-South. Freeze warnings are in place for nearly the entire northern and central Plains as the first hard freeze of the season is expected on Wednesday night. Some record lows are possible in the Ohio Valley and Mid-South. Strong winds combined with the coldest air of the season will produce wicked wind chills for the duration of the storm. Widespread wind chills in the low-to-mid-teens are expected from the Plains to the Ohio Valley to the Appalachians by Friday morning.

Tropical depression may form in Caribbean Thursday

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A low-pressure system in the northeastern Caribbean Sea could develop into a tropical depression over the next day or so, the National Hurricane Center said in an outlook issued Thursday.

The system, moving northwestward at about 10 to 15 miles per hour, could cause some flooding and mudslides over mountainous terrain. It was located about 50 miles south of Nevis and St. Kitts.

The weather models split on what the system will do over the next several days.

A couple of the models projected the storm would turn west across the Caribbean, remaining south of the Greater Antilles, and heading toward Nicaragua and Honduras. Other models showed the storm continuing northwest toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The Greater Antilles include Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and Puerto Rico.

If the system ultimately strengthens into a tropical storm, packing maximum wind speeds of 39 to 73 mph, the NHC would name it Joyce.