Stormy Yesterday and Last Night

[bfdweather28602@yahoo.com]

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) -- High winds, heavy rain and tornadoes pounded parts of the Midwest and the South, killing five people and stranding others in trees and shelters while forecasters warned Saturday the stormy weather was expected to continue.

Officials were trying to "find and rescue anyone else we might have missed throughout the night," said Tamara Roberts of the Sharp County, Arkansas, Sheriff's Office.

Areas in northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri received more than 10 inches of rain within 24 hours, said David Blanchard, a National Weather Service forecaster in Paducah, Kentucky. (Watch rescuers float victims through flooded streets -- 1:13)

Stormy weather and possibly tornadoes were forecast for the region Saturday.

"There's so much moisture in the atmosphere, you could get a lot of rain in no time flat," said Brian Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Two tornadoes swept through south-central Missouri on Friday afternoon, damaging more than 100 homes and tearing off part of a roof at a middle school moments after a tornado drill.

A firefighter videotaped two twisters moving through St. James, said Phelps County emergency management director Bruce Southard. He estimated the tornadoes were on the ground for 10 minutes. (Watch a funnel cloud touch down in Kansas, captured by a CNN.com reader -- 0:41)

"It's devastating," he said. "We've got nice houses that are just tore to pieces."

Devin Wilburn, 12, said students at St. James Middle School had just completed a tornado drill. Then they interrupted their science test to rush back into the hallway for the real thing. The children knelt down and put their hands over their heads, he said.

"I just heard a bunch of thunder and ripping, because the top of the roof came off," Devin said.

No teachers, children or staff members were injured.

'Every road flooded'
Two women were killed in Lexington, Kentucky, after trying to cross a flooded roadway early Saturday. Witnesses told rescue officials the women were swept away in a flooded creek, Fire Battalion Chief Mat Ragland said.

A female motorist in Jessamine County died after running her pickup truck into high water, while another motorist died after skidding off Interstate 65 near Elizabethtown, authorities said.

In northwest Arkansas, Deborah Massey, 51, died when her boat was struck by lightning as she and Preston Starritt, 36, both of Prairie Grove, tried to make it to shore, Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said. Starritt was injured and treated at a hospital.

People were stranded in trees after a campground in northeast Arkansas flooded, the National Weather Service said. Residents who live near the Spring River were told to evacuate because of a flash flood warning, Roberts told Little Rock television station KATV. (Watch what's in store for Midwest and the rest of the nation Saturday -- 1:50)

In Kentucky, flooding forced more than 100 people out of a Louisville apartment complex, according to Mayor Jerry Abramson.

Portions of Interstate 64 just east of Louisville were closed in both directions due to standing water. Dozens of cars were stranded, Abramson said. I-65 also was closed for a couple of hours in Elizabethtown.

"At one point, just about every road in the county was flooded," said Michael Key, a Hardin County 911 dispatcher, after 5 inches of rain fell.

Maggie DiPietro, 58, was among about two dozen people who sought shelter at an Elizabethtown community center. She said she woke up shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday and found about 2 inches of water in her home.

"By the time the police came and rescued me, it was almost up to my calves," she said.

Thousands across the region were without power Saturday, including more than 5,000 Louisville Gas & Electric customers who were in the dark.

[therock1811]

I was in Georgetown, KY, which is 12 miles outside Lexington, on Saturday morning. We had about 4 inches of rain Friday night and early Saturday at my hotel off I-75. That caused Elkhorn Creek to go over its banks in sections of the city. They were expecting worse last night so the company I was working a festival for sent me back home.