Death toll mounts as floods, heat wave batter U.S.

Unrelenting storms and floods have forced thousands of people from their homes, while other states have wilted in a record-breaking heatwave with the death toll from the extreme weather hitting the US rising to almost 50 on August 23. Mudslides and murky floodwaters hampered rescue efforts in the central and southern states of Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin after a week of heavy rains that has left 23 dead. In Wisconsin three people, including a toddler, were the latest victims, after they were electrocuted and died on August 22, when lightening struck a utility pole and knocked a live wire into a deep puddle at a bus stop. Meanwhile, soaring temperatures in the southeastern states of Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama have been blamed for the deaths at least 25 people. The trouble began a week ago when tropical storm Erin gathered strength instead of weakening as it passed over Oklahoma and Texas, which is experiencing its wettest year in more than a century. Erin then joined up with another storm system which had brought mudslides, floods and seven deaths to Minnesota. Together, the storms strengthened and dumped even more rain on the saturated grounds and overflowing rivers of the midwest. "This is unprecedented," said Patrick Slattery, a spokesman for the National Weather service, predicting that more rain is on the way.