MNN - Mother Nature Network

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - The levee along the rising Black River in the area of Poplar Bluff, Mo., was breached south of the city on Tuesday morning, local police said.

 

To prepare for expected flash flooding, about 1,000 people were evacuated Monday. A total of 59 people were rescued from homes and cars within a 90-minute period Monday night, said Poplar Bluff Police Captain Mike McClain.

 

McClain said the levee along the river has been sandbagged to plug overflows in the city limits.

 

The storms and flooding were the latest in the violent weather that has pummeled much of the mid-South this month, killing seven people in Arkansas Monday. Two weeks ago more than 47 people died as storms tore a wide path from Oklahoma all the way to North Carolina.

 

Flood warnings on Monday prompted evacuations of hundreds of people in Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri following days of rain that led to rivers cresting over the flood stage, according to forecasters.

 

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Jerry Norton)

 

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