It will be a hot and wet weekend for large swaths of the U.S. with flood watches and intense heat wave warnings in place.
Some Americans are already waking up to storms as 17 million are under flood alerts across the Gulf Coast and separately in the mid-Atlantic.
Heavy downpours hit overnight, drenching Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana up to the Midwest. In Washington County, Indiana, an empty RV camper was swept away in floodwaters Thursday. In Uvalde, Texas, a person died and their body was found Thursday after the vehicle they were in got swept away in floodwaters off Ranch Road 187.
Kansas City, Missouri, saw a month’s worth of rain in just a few hours, which turned creeks into raging torrents of water, washing away property and submerging vehicles. The city area received between 5 and 8 inches of rain in the last 36 hours, prompting 23 high-water rescues of people trapped in their vehicles, the local fire department said Thursday.
Meanwhile Ruidoso, New Mexico, where three died in historic flash floods more than a week ago, is reeling with more rapidly rising floodwaters.
On Friday, along the Gulf Coast, heavy rain associated with tropical moisture is pinwheeling across parts of eastern Texas, southern Louisiana, and coastal Mississippi and Alabama.
Thunderstorms with rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches an hour could produce flooding for New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles in Louisiana; Beaumont, Texas; Biloxi, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida.
In the mid-Atlantic, flood watches are up across eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and much of West Virginia and Virginia, as well as northern portions of Tennessee and North Carolina.
The area most likely to experience flooding Friday is Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where rainfall rates of 3 inches an hour over saturated soil could cause rapid and sudden flash flooding in urban areas and around creeks and streams.
This weekend, flood risk will turn to the Midwest, Ohio Valley and the Appalachians with cities to watch for flooding including Chicago; Indianapolis; Louisville, Kentucky; St. Louis; Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charleston, West Virginia.
Power company PSE&G, which supplies New Jersey and parts of New York, told customers it’s preparing crews to help restore power in storms, especially with the heat.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency in 13 counties Thursday due to tropical storm Chantal’s flooding.
Sweltering heat will also ramp up this weekend with 19 million under heat alerts across parts of the mid-Atlantic, southern Florida and Mississippi Valley.
Cities under heat alerts include Raleigh, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Miami, Florida; Paducah, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Miami will experience temperature highs of 91 on Friday and Saturday and 92 on Sunday, with a maximum heat index of 103. Raleigh will see highs of 94 on Friday and 95 on Saturday and Sunday, with a maximum heat index of 106. Little Rock will see highs of 97 on Friday, 96 on Saturday and 97 on Sunday, with a maximum heat index of 110.
