~Missourian swept away by flooding
SIKESTON - Local rain gauges showed nearly two-inches of rain falling in Sikeston today.
The Bootheel, with a dry Saturday and Sunday apparently was luckier than other areas as thunderstorms stretched from Texas to New England for a second day Monday, causing deadly flooding and leaving thousands of customers without electricity.
At least two people died in flooding, one was killed by a falling tree and a boy was in critical condition after being hit by lightning.
Heavy rain fell on already saturated ground in Missouri, where flooding along the St. Francis River meant several people had to be evacuated by boat from their homes in Ironton. Roads into Ironton were flooded, the Iron County sheriff's office said.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported 17 roads were closed as of this morning in the Troop E area. Rout A, south of Chaffee is closed and officials have closed Highway 162 in Portageville due to high water. Also in Stoddard County, Routes K and BB were reported closed this morning.
One man died near Ironton on Sunday when high water swept him from a tree that he had climbed to escape the flood, said Iron County Sheriff Allen Mathes.
While Sikeston logged 1.96 inches today according to the Sikeston Power Plant records, there was no rain logged on Saturday or Sunday.
Today's rain reportedly caused some flooding near Cape Girardeau, resulting in roads closed and in a few cases, the closing of schools because buses could not safely travel. New Madrid had a brief power outage during today's early morning storm.
At St. Louis, the Mississippi River was forecast to reach 7.5 feet above flood stage later in the week, and water already was creeping up the riverfront steps that lead to the Gateway Arch.
''We're not out of the woods yet,'' said Dale Bechtold, a National Weather Service forecaster in St. Louis. ''If you've got interests along the river, you better pay attention. We're going to have problems throughout the week.''
Thousands of customers lost power in Missouri's St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties when wind-blown trees took out power lines, utilities said.
About 35,000 customers lost power Sunday in Maryland, where thunderstorms produced wind gusts up to 45 mph, said Nancy Caplan, a spokeswoman for Baltimore Gas and Electric. Service had been restored to most of them Monday.
An estimated 45,000 customers lost power in Pennsylvania on Sunday as thunderstorms generated wind up to 60 mph. And a falling tree killed one man about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, said Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha.
''I looked out the window and saw my lawn furniture take off,'' said Larry Foley in western Pennsylvania's Chester County.
A 12-year-old boy struck by lightning at Urbana, Ohio, remained in critical condition Monday. James Lewis was playing with three other boys on a hill near railroad tracks when the lightning hit.
Elsewhere in Ohio, one man died when his raft went over a small dam on the swollen Chagrin River near Willoughby, and his companion was still missing Monday.
''I saw them go over and get thrown out of the raft,'' witness Arney Price said. ''There were a lot of logs, some bigger than I am, just beating on them.''
Rain fell at more than an inch an hour in parts of Indiana early Monday and flood warnings were posted for streams including the White River, which was already above flood stage on the north side of Indianapolis. A trailer park had to be evacuated near Vincennes because of flooding, water up to 4 feet deep flowed over a highway near Freeman, and some roads were washed out.