Rain Midwestern United States

Trained teams of dogs and handlers conducted a slow, grim search Saturday for an estimated 35 people still missing after a devastating flash flood washed away scores of homes Thursday night. The bodies of four people, including a 5-year-old girl, were found during the day to bring the toll of known dead to 15. As night fell, hopes dimmed that many of those still on the list of missing would turn up alive.

Renewed flooding in the saturated Midwest forced hundreds of people from their homes, closed roads and washed away mobile homes Saturday, even as people were still cleaning up from a summer of high water. As much as seven inches of rain fell overnight, on top of two previous days of heavy rain. Many rivers in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma were forecast to crest over the weekend, but officials said that would mean little.

Storms pounded the central plains states, drenching southern Minnesota and parts of western South Dakota with three inches of rain. In east-central Kansas, there was flooding along the Marais des Cygnes river, which crested at Quenemo above 24 feet, or seven feet above flood stage, threatening adjacent farmland and roads. Elsewhere, Florida saw heavy rain, and winds gusting up to 60 m.p.h. swept across the Montana Rockies.

At least 25 miles from the brown edge of the nearest floodwaters, Eldon Mattson squints into the brilliant sunlight of a Missouri afternoon and contemplates a field of withered, yellowing cornstalks. He is sizing up the good luck that has placed him far from the inundated river bottoms, and the bad luck that Mattson reckons will rob him of at least a quarter of his usual harvest anyway. "Oh, we're high and dry here as far as the flooding's concerned. The rain hasn't flooded us . . .

Rain fell over parts of the nation's Farm Belt but not enough to break the back of the dry spell, and Virginia farmers who were helped two years ago by donated hay returned the favor to a village in Ohio. The drought also created a controversy in Illinois, where Gov. James R. Thompson declared today "a day of prayer for rain." Thompson's action angered American Atheists, a group in Austin, Tex.

The full realization of Southern California's four-year drought came rushing up to me a few weeks ago as my plane descended into the lush green hills of western Missouri. A longtime resident of Southern California, I had paid scant notice to the parched brown landscape that unfolded beneath as I flew out of the Los Angeles Basin last month for a vacation with relatives in the Kansas City, Mo., area, where I grew up.

Torrential rains pounded this flood-stricken city on Tuesday, threatening a crucial water treatment plant and raising fears of an outbreak of water-borne diseases, while the Mississippi River continued roaring out of its banks, swallowing farmland from Minnesota through Missouri. Storms raked across Iowa, southern Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin Tuesday, pumping more energy into the cresting Mississippi River.

Meteorologists warned Tuesday that the Midwest is not out of trouble, despite hopes that a crest in record Mississippi River levels would spell an end to the devastating floods that have caused billions of dollars in structural damage and crop losses. Conditions that caused the flooding still stubbornly hover in the atmosphere, feeding extra moisture to routine summer thunderstorms that have been rolling into Missouri and Iowa.

At least 25 miles from the brown edge of the nearest floodwaters, Eldon Mattson squints into the brilliant sunlight of a Missouri afternoon and contemplates a field of withered, yellowing cornstalks. He is sizing up the good luck that has placed him far from the inundated river bottoms, and the bad luck that Mattson reckons will rob him of at least a quarter of his usual harvest anyway. "Oh, we're high and dry here as far as the flooding's concerned. The rain hasn't flooded us . . .

Severe thunderstorms raked parts of the Midwest on Saturday, causing widespread flooding and at least two deaths in Iowa and Illinois. Tornadoes destroyed five houses in South Dakota and ripped through a Nebraska town. Hundreds of Iowans were forced to evacuate their homes when up to 6 inches of rain fell over parts of the state, and roads and bridges were washed out.

Meteorologists warned Tuesday that the Midwest is not out of trouble, despite hopes that a crest in record Mississippi River levels would spell an end to the devastating floods that have caused billions of dollars in structural damage and crop losses. Conditions that caused the flooding still stubbornly hover in the atmosphere, feeding extra moisture to routine summer thunderstorms that have been rolling into Missouri and Iowa.

Torrential rains pounded this flood-stricken city on Tuesday, threatening a crucial water treatment plant and raising fears of an outbreak of water-borne diseases, while the Mississippi River continued roaring out of its banks, swallowing farmland from Minnesota through Missouri. Storms raked across Iowa, southern Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin Tuesday, pumping more energy into the cresting Mississippi River.

The death toll from flash floods that swept through a rural area of eastern Ohio increased to 19 Sunday as searchers dug along two creeks and dived into the Ohio River. Eighteen people remained missing. Workers used shovels and picks to dig along the creek banks, and sifted through debris at places marked with red flags, where search dogs indicated they had detected human scents, National Guard Capt. Jim Boling said. Divers worked where the two creeks empty into the Ohio.

Severe thunderstorms raked parts of the Midwest on Saturday, causing widespread flooding and at least two deaths in Iowa and Illinois. Tornadoes destroyed five houses in South Dakota and ripped through a Nebraska town. Hundreds of Iowans were forced to evacuate their homes when up to 6 inches of rain fell over parts of the state, and roads and bridges were washed out.

Trained teams of dogs and handlers conducted a slow, grim search Saturday for an estimated 35 people still missing after a devastating flash flood washed away scores of homes Thursday night. The bodies of four people, including a 5-year-old girl, were found during the day to bring the toll of known dead to 15. As night fell, hopes dimmed that many of those still on the list of missing would turn up alive.

Storms pounded the central plains states, drenching southern Minnesota and parts of western South Dakota with three inches of rain. In east-central Kansas, there was flooding along the Marais des Cygnes river, which crested at Quenemo above 24 feet, or seven feet above flood stage, threatening adjacent farmland and roads. Elsewhere, Florida saw heavy rain, and winds gusting up to 60 m.p.h. swept across the Montana Rockies.

The death toll from flash floods that swept through a rural area of eastern Ohio increased to 19 Sunday as searchers dug along two creeks and dived into the Ohio River. Eighteen people remained missing. Workers used shovels and picks to dig along the creek banks, and sifted through debris at places marked with red flags, where search dogs indicated they had detected human scents, National Guard Capt. Jim Boling said. Divers worked where the two creeks empty into the Ohio.

Renewed flooding in the saturated Midwest forced hundreds of people from their homes, closed roads and washed away mobile homes Saturday, even as people were still cleaning up from a summer of high water. As much as seven inches of rain fell overnight, on top of two previous days of heavy rain. Many rivers in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma were forecast to crest over the weekend, but officials said that would mean little.

The full realization of Southern California's four-year drought came rushing up to me a few weeks ago as my plane descended into the lush green hills of western Missouri. A longtime resident of Southern California, I had paid scant notice to the parched brown landscape that unfolded beneath as I flew out of the Los Angeles Basin last month for a vacation with relatives in the Kansas City, Mo., area, where I grew up.

Rain fell over parts of the nation's Farm Belt but not enough to break the back of the dry spell, and Virginia farmers who were helped two years ago by donated hay returned the favor to a village in Ohio. The drought also created a controversy in Illinois, where Gov. James R. Thompson declared today "a day of prayer for rain." Thompson's action angered American Atheists, a group in Austin, Tex.