CHICAGO (AP) – Several states could see severe flooding and other weather-related problems amid a storm system that has brought rain, ice and snow to the Midwest and Great Plains.
The weather already was blamed for several fatalities, including the deaths of four people in a crash in Nebraska.
Melting snow and heavy rain prompted the National Weather Service to issue flood warnings for parts of northern Illinois and flood watches for central Illinois. The fear of a rising Illinois River forced the evacuation late Tuesday of the LaSalle County Nursing Home in Ottawa.
In the Chicago area, as much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain fell overnight Monday into Tuesday and forecasters expected another 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 centimeters) by Tuesday evening.
Parts of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula were seeing flooding and road closures. In Kalamazoo in southwestern Michigan and the surrounding area, some roads were closed Tuesday due to high water. Temperatures have warmed and the weather service said rainfall was expected to total 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) or more in places.