Repeated Days of Thunderstorms

Repeated Days of Thunderstorms



Aug. 2007  - Waves of stalled weather fronts 
have caused repeated days of thunderstorms over northern Iowa, southern 
Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana, northwest Ohio this week 
and ar continuing. A number of locations are dealing with six day rainfall 
totals near 12 inches and rivers near record crests. 
The last of these stalled systems will affect an area from Kansas to Lower 
Michigan on Aug. 2007 with heavy rain and severe thunderstorms. By 
Saturday, the Plains and Midwest will be almost entirely rain free, 
finally allowing the flood waters to recede, according to the National 
Weather Service. 
Beginning Wednesday and continuing, severe storms producing strong winds, 
hail and heavy rainfall moved into the Midwest causing flooding and flash 
flooding across central and northern Iowa. 
Widespread to scattered thunderstorms are likely to continue through 
Friday evening. Some storms may be severe with heavy rain possible leading 
to another round of flash flooding, mostly along the I-80 corridor and 
northern portions of Ohio. 
Severe storms moved through Chicago and northeast Illinois Thursday 
afternoon, causing power outages in Cook, Knox, LaSalle and Warren 
counties, as well as downed trees, and roof damage to several buildings. 
At 3:30 pm local time on Thursday, the Exelon Nuclear Power Plant at 
Braidwood had one unit manually shut down by the operators due to loss of 
vacuum caused by the automatic shut down of two circulating water pumps. 
This is standard protocol with this type of mechanical failure and the 
reactor was shut down without incident. 
Braidwood Unit 1 is still at power and both reactors at the Braidwood site 
are stable. This is not a classifiable incident under federal regulations 
and poses no danger to the public or the workers at the station. The 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been notified. 
In Ohio, the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Huntington Thursday deployed a 
seven member Disaster Assistance Response Team, DART, to help in search 
and rescue operations for flood victims in the town of Finley and parts 
west along the Blanchard River. 
Water rescue and evacuation teams from the Ohio Department of Natural 
Resources are going door-to-door with the Coast Guard team in affected 
areas. 
Record flood levels are expected in the north central part of the state 
and in the towns of Findley and Bucyrus over the next 48 to 72 hours. 
Cresting is expected over the next 48 hours, but some delay may occur due 
to the threat of continued rain, forecasters said. 
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has declared state emergencies for nine 
counties, and there are currently 24 state and U.S. Highways blocked due 
to floodwaters and 11 restricted roadways. 
In Minnesota, severe flooding hit the southeastern part of the state last 
week bringing between eight and eleven inches of rain and more rainfall is 
still in the forecast for the state. 
President George W. Bush Thursday signed a Major Disaster Declaration for 
six Minnesota counties that frees up federal funds to cope with the worst 
of the flooding. 
In Indiana, debris from last week's storms has been removed from major 
roadways which are now passable. Removal operations continuing on minor 
roadways that are partially blocked with downed trees. 

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