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Skies to clear in Midwest, easing flooding fears
2008-12-28
CHICAGO - The skies were expected to clear in the Midwest on Sunday as the residents surveyed the damage from summerlike storms that a day earlier pounded the region with hail, high winds and even funnel clouds. Much of Illinois, Missouri and Michigan along with western Indiana remained under a flood watch early Sunday, however, as runoff from Saturday's heavy rain and snow melt swelled rivers, creeks and streams. Low-lying roads were flooded and closed across southwest and central Missouri, the National Weather Service said early Sunday. Forecasters in the Chicago area said the sun would come out Sunday and temperatures would rise to the 30s but with high winds. In Illinois' Kane County, several dozen Boy Scouts spent Saturday morning filling 2,400 sandbags for residents to pick up as needed outside the Campton Township Highway Department. Scouts shoveled sand into the bags and stacked them in neat piles. "They're learning community service," said troop leader Jeff Koehl, who said authorities sent out an e-mail asking for Scouts to volunteer. "They're just concerned with the way we're going to get this quick melt that all the tributaries are going to fill up." In the Chicago suburb of Riverside, authorities encouraged residents along the Des Plaines River to evacuate Saturday night as waters rose. The river was expected to crest at around 10 feet on Sunday. On Saturday afternoon powerful storm system swept across a wide swath of south and central Illinois during the afternoon, packing wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph, said National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Bak. The storms also produced hail, and the Weather Service office in St. Louis received reports of funnel clouds. The storms damaged buildings and brought down tree limbs and power lines. In Sangamon County, high winds blew off a large section of a school district administrative building roof in Springfield. In the Pacific Northwest, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington experienced their sixth winter storm in two weeks. Four to 7 inches of new snow fell overnight in the Spokane area, where it began snowing a week before Christmas, and a blizzard warning was issued for the Grande Ronde Valley Saturday night. "They're definitely getting strong winds through there," said Mary Johnson of the National Weather Service. "Having this much snow is unusual for some parts in our area." ___ Associated Press writer Mary Hudetz in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.
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