Flooding continues to pose threat to communities along Mississippi, Arkansas rivers

As much as 20 inches of rain has fallen in the central U.S. in two weeks.

May 31, 2019, 6:14 AM

Dozens of rivers and streams are overflowing their banks in the Upper Midwest and Gulf Coast as the regions deal with rainfall measured in feet, not inches.

In the last two weeks, 15 to 20 inches of rain has fallen in the heartland with all of the stormy weather.

The threat for tornadoes will lessen in most of the country after over 400 reported in the last two weeks, but the flood risk increases as the water begins to drain from 2 weeks of heavy rain!!

Several levees are beginning to fail and some already failed, including a breach in Dardanelle, Arkansas, Friday morning. Officials are evacuating 160 homes ahead of incoming water.

West of Kansas City, a dam near Sabetcha, Kansas, could fail in the next couple of days with all the runoff water.

Flood warnings are in place along the Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri rivers due to heavy rain over the past two weeks.
ABC News

The good news for now is that there is not a lot of rain expected in the central US over the next few days.

The severe storms on Friday will be in the Carolinas, Great Lakes and western Texas. The tornado threat is small, but gusty winds and some hail are possible.

Severe storms are possible in western Texas, the Great Lakes and the Carolinas on Friday.
ABC News

There is some bad news, as a new storm system will bring more rain early next week for the Southern Plains.

Some areas could see up to 4 inches of rain in the flood zone.

After a quiet weekend, there will be more rain for the Southern Plains at the start of next week.
ABC News

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