Deadly floods soak US midwest as toll mounts

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AFP) - Deadly thunderstorms continued to pound the US midwest yesterday as the toll from mudslides and rushing floodwaters rose amid dramatic rescues of those trapped on roofs and in cars and frantic searches for survivors.

At least a dozen people were killed in Oklahoma and Minnesota and five were missing yesterday after two strong storm systems moved through the American heartland, wiping away roads and bridges and causing the evacuation of several towns.

"You can't believe the washouts and the mudslides," said Shirley Van Gundy, 73, who lives in Houston, Minnesota a town of about 1,000 residents that was evacuated late Sunday afternoon.

"It's all over. I know what floods are, and this is the worst."

Glen Jostad, 84, only managed to escape after a neighbor used a bulldozer to clear a mudslide that blocked the entrance to his mobile home park.

The highway he took to his daughter's house was littered with trees and mud and at one spot, part of a railroad bridge was washed out and pieces of track were "hanging in mid-air," he said.

North of the town of Brownsville, three houses slid off foundations and down the hillside "and are sitting in the middle of the road." Jostad said.

"There's a lot of devastation here. It's going to be a long cleanup period I'm afraid," he added.

One family managed to escape by punching a hole in the roof of their attic where they were plucked off the rooftop by rescuers in a boat.

Another family made it onto the roof of their Stockton, Minnesota home but before they could get help, the floodwaters sweep the house from its foundation and carried them about 1,000 feet before the house was stopped by mangled railroad tracks.

More than 200 National Guard soldiers were deployed to help local rescue workers in boats as they went house to house, hunting for people who might be trapped as the waters rose.

Roads and highways leading into many communities were impassable, and phone service was spotty as residents struggled through mud and waist-high floodwaters in some areas.

Two people died in Winona County after they drove into a 25-foot-deep wash-out and two others died after flood waters swept their car off the road, Bob Reinert, administrator of Winona County, told AFP.