Forecasters warn that flooding could continue for days, as torrential rains keep falling in many US states.
Rivers have risen and flooding has worsened across the United States’ South and Midwest, further threatening communities already waterlogged and severely damaged by days of heavy rain, tornadoes and harsh winds that killed at least 18 people.
From Texas to Ohio, utilities scrambled to shut off power and gas on Sunday, prompting some cities to close roads and deploy sandbags to protect homes and businesses.
Forecasters warned that flooding could persist for days, as torrential rains hovered over many US states, including Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
Tornadoes are possible in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, they added.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said on Sunday that dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach a “major flood stage”, with extensive flooding of critical infrastructure possible, including roads and bridges.
The 18 reported deaths since the start of the storms on Wednesday included 10 in Tennessee, according to The Associated Press news agency.
A nine-year-old boy in Kentucky was caught up in floodwaters while walking to catch his school bus. A five-year-old boy in Arkansas died after a tree fell on his family’s home and trapped him, police said.
A 16-year-old volunteer in Missouri died in a crash while seeking to rescue people caught in the storm.
Hundreds of flights cancelled
There were 521 domestic and international flights cancelled within the US and more than 6,400 delayed on Saturday, according to FlightAware.com, which reported 74 cancellations and 478 delays of US flights early Sunday.
The storms come after the administration of US President Donald Trump has cut jobs at NWS forecast offices, leaving half of them with vacancy rates of about 20 percent, or double the level of a decade ago.