Rising rivers and swollen reservoirs caused severe flooding across the US Midwest on Tuesday as residents in the region braced for yet another drenching.

Levees were breached or overtopped, sending flood waters coursing into some small towns in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. The US National Weather Service forecast another round of thunderstorms coming from the northern plains.

In Des Moines, residents were warned that water would be released from a bulging reservoir into the Des Moines River, which bisects the city. All but one bridge over the river was closed.

Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, yesterday canceled a planned campaign trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, so as not to divert state resources away from the unfolding disaster.

Levees failed along the Wabash and Embarras rivers in eastern Illinois, forcing dozens of people out of their homes.

Traffic was blocked by submerged roads in some areas.

A bridge over the Mississippi River at Dubuque, Iowa, that was struck by runaway river barges was reopened, though authorities said flooding may force the closure of an upper section of the vital waterway.

"There's widespread damage, there's a lot of water where it shouldn't be, there are a lot of homes that have been damaged or destroyed," said John Erickson, a spokesman in Indiana for the US Department of Homeland Security.

Three men have drowned in Indiana's flood waters since the weekend, when up to 10 inches of rain pummeled areas already soggy from heavy spring rains.

Indiana was suffering its worst flooding since the 19th century, official said.

Agencies

(China Daily 06/12/2008 page12)