Missouri Floods Force Hundreds From Homes

Hundreds of people have been forced out of their homes by floods in the latest episode of severe weather that has killed more than 40 people in the US over the past week.

Four days of storms sent rivers in Missouri to record levels, killing at least 13 people and closing hundreds of roads.



It comes as a storm system that caused deadly tornadoes in the Midwest and Southwest of the country pushed north, where it has turned wintry.

Snow has blanketed parts of the Northeast including New York.

Up to 30cm (1ft) of snow is forecast for the Iowa and the Great Lakes region.

Play video "Deadly Storms Sweep Across U.S."

Video: Deadly Storms Sweep Across U.S.
The severe weather left tens of thousands of travellers stranded during one of the busiest periods of the year.

Thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled.

Missouri has been pounded by downpours since Saturday and forecasters say flooding on the middle portion of the Mississippi river and its tributaries may reach levels not seen during winter months since records began in the 1800s.

The towns of West Alton and Arnold, near where the Mississippi and Missouri rivers converge, were told to evacuate.

Aerial footage showed homes in the area with water almost at roof levels.

In Illinois, some inmates were moved out of a maximum security prison on the banks of the Mississippi.

The US Coast Guard closed a five-mile stretch of the river to all vessels.

Missouri governor Jay Nixon called out the National Guard to direct traffic away from hundreds of closed roads across the state and urged motorists not to drive into flooded areas.

He said: "These citizen soldiers will provide much-needed support to state and local first-responders, many of whom have spent the last several days working around the clock responding to record rainfall and flooding."

Elsewhere in the US, parts of eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas were under flood warnings.