Heavy rains flood saturated US northeast, three dead

Heavy rains have swamped areas of the US northeast already sodden by last week's Hurricane Irene, causing flash floods linked to at least three deaths and forcing thousands to evacuate, officials said Thursday. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for several counties in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, as flood waters invaded towns and farmland and closed state highways.
The city of Binghamton, New York ordered a mandatory city-wide evacuation, while other towns and villages in the state and in Pennsylvania were considering similar measures. Flooding was also reported in and around the US capital Washington. "We expect historic or near-historic flooding in many parts of the state," Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency deputy press secretary Ruth Miller told AFP.
Three unconfirmed fatalities amid the stormy weather have been reported to authorities in Pennsylvania, she said, as the state grapples with some of its worst flooding since 1972's benchmark Hurricane Agnes, which ravaged much of the Mid-Atlantic as a tropical storm.