More rain, flooding on tap for U.S. mid-Atlantic

[July 25, 2018]  (Reuters) - Heavy rainfall is expected on Wednesday over parts of the U.S. mid-Atlantic states, where downpours over the last few days have flooded streets, homes and businesses across the region.

Heavy rains fell overnight from central New York state south through eastern North Carolina, where the National Weather Service warned that a fresh round of downpours expected on Wednesday could cause more flooding.

"With the rainfall we have seen over the last week, the ground is very saturated, so any additional rainfall we receive, especially heavy, really has no where to go, resulting in flooding," Brandon Fling, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said on Wednesday morning.

Nearly a foot (30 cm) of rain has fallen in parts of the region, including the Baltimore, Washington D.C. metro area since Saturday, swelling waterways well above flood stages, Fling said.

Flood waters rushed over streets in numerous communities across the region, where local news video showed water streaming into homes and businesses and reaching the tops of automobiles as rescue crews worked to save motorists.

"It just happened out of nowhere, and next thing my car was just shut off and I’m like, what do I do now?" Zachary Reichert told NBC News after being rescued from his flooded Jeep in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. "I can’t swim in the first place, so I wasn’t jumping into those waters."

The downpours were expected to continue as at least a chance of rain was in the forecast for the area for several more days.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, editing by Larry King)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.