Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 22 February 2018

Crews used boats to help residents amid Midwest flooding

the region this week. The in the South Bend area,
weather has already been and forecasters predicted
blamed for hundreds of car that the swollen St. Joseph
crashes and several fatali- River wouldn't crest un-
ties, including a crash that til Thursday. The National
killed four people along a Weather Service has issued
slippery interstate in Ne- flood warnings for parts of
braska.About 19 people several other states in the
had been evacuated from central and southern U.S.,
homes in Elkhart, where spanning from Texas to Illi-
emergency crews used nois and Ohio to Arkansas.
boats and an armored ve- Winter weather advisories
hicle to respond, Mayor Tim also were issued, including
Neese said early Wednes- in Oklahoma and Kansas.
day. Schools were closed More than a dozen stu-
in the northern Indiana city dents were rescued after
because of the flooding, their school bus drove off
and an emergency shelter the road and got stuck in
was set up, The Elkhart Truth floodwaters in Arkansas,
newspaper reported. where strong winds toppled
"This city has not seen flood- power lines and damaged
ing like this in the last 45 buildings. A school bus was
years," Neese said. "We also pushed off a county road
had record snowfall in ad- near Lafayette, Indiana, by
Emergency crews help evacuate residents Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, in Elkhart, Ind. Crews are dition to consistent rain." the wake of a passing ve-
using boats to help northern Indiana residents amid flooding from melting snow and heavy rain
moving across the Midwest. In nearby Goshen, local hicle. No students were in-
(Becky Malewitz /South Bend Tribune via AP) officials declared a state jured in either accident.
of emergency and asked In Michigan, flooded streets
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — Crews storms sweeping across the and other low-lying areas in that traffic be limited to first stranded motorists and a
used boats to help residents Midwest on Wednesday several states. The storm sys- responders and emergen- school bus in Flint, and a
evacuate their homes in combined with melting tem started pushing heavy cy personnel. Homes and washout from heavy rains
northern Indiana after rain- snow to flood rivers, roads rain, snow and ice into streets also were flooded may have caused two
freight train engines to de-
NTSB: rail near Grand Rapids. Po-
lice said two railroad work-
Truck hit by GOP train was on tracks after warning ers suffered injuries that
weren’t
life-threatening.
Residents in Mattawan, in
By DENISE LAVOIE cause of the accident has way-railroad grade cross- road signal bungalow next southwestern Michigan,
HEIDI BROWN not yet been determined. ing came into view, the to the tracks. used sandbags to protect
CROZET, Va. (AP) — Wit- But it offered some new de- gates were down and the The two trash collec- homes and businesses as a
nesses told investigators tails about the crash, which garbage truck was on the tors were ejected from river rose above its banks.
that a garbage truck struck killed a trash collector and crossing. the truck. One of them, “We just got to wait for it
by a train carrying Repub- injured several other peo- Preliminary information 28-year-old Christopher to go down,” Terry Teeter,
lican congressmen through ple. from the train's onboard Foley, was killed, while the who installed pumps to
rural Virginia entered the The chartered Amtrak train recorder indicates that the other remains hospitalized. keep water away from his
railroad crossing after the was carrying dozens of Re- train was traveling about The truck's driver received house, told WOOD-TV. “It’s
safety gates had come publican lawmakers to an 61 mph (98 kph) when the minor injuries. going to be a couple of
down, the National Trans- annual retreat in West Vir- engineer applied emer- The front axle of the lead days like this.” In Illinois, the
portation Safety Board said ginia. gency braking. The train locomotive on the train de- fear of rising water along
in a preliminary report re- The NTSB report said data struck the left rear of the railed, but the locomotive the Illinois River forced the
leased Wednesday. taken from a track im- truck, causing the truck to remained upright. evacuation late Tuesday of
The report on the Jan. 31 age camera on the train rotate counterclockwise “Survivor’s remorse,” Mc- the LaSalle County Nursing
crash said the probable showed that as the high- and then collide with a rail- Cauley said.q Home in Ottawa.q