iStock/Thinkstock(ROCKFORD, Ill.) — An Illinois hospital halted intake on Monday after a storm battered parts of the state with heavy rain and flooding that left some residents stranded in there cars.
Mercy Hospital in Rockford, Illinois, had to divert incoming patients to nearby hospitals on Monday after parts of the facility flooded, hospital officials said.
“At this point all incoming patients are being diverted to other hospitals. All patients who are here are safe and not being evacuated,” officials said late Monday. “The hospital has put together an incident command team that is managing the situation.”
“This is a Particularly Dangerous Situation,” the service said in a statement. “If you live in a low lying area, seek higher ground now! Do not drive through flooded roadways as you may and will get stranded easily.”
The storm knocked out power for some and caused manholes to pop from their casings, according to local reports.
Some motorists were left stranded in their cars, according to Rockford ABC affiliate WTVO, which obtained video of a man being rescued by a group of good Samaritans.
Things were also bad in other parts of the Upper Midwest, including Wisconsin, where an elderly man died after his vehicle got caught in flood waters on Sunday. The victim, a 75-year-old man, was found in a ditch about 60 feet away from his vehicle in White River, authorities said.
Residents in Upper Michigan got as much as 7 inches of rain by Monday, causing bridges and roads to collapse.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declared a “state of disaster” on Monday for counties where the flooding had caused the most infrastructural damages.
“I have declared a state of disaster for Houghton and Menominee counties after severe weather and heavy rainfall struck both counties, resulting in widespread flooding damage,” Snyder said in a statement. “This declaration will ensure additional state resources are available so that damages can be repaired as quickly as possible.”
Heat remains in Southeast
Several record highs were tied or broken Monday, including in Albany, New York, where it was 97 degrees.
The worst of the heat is done in the Great Lakes and the Northeast. The heat moves into the Southeast and parts of mid-Mississippi Valley where heat advisories and warnings stretch from Missouri to South Carolina.
The worst heat index temperatures Tuesday will be south of Washington, D.C., into the Carolinas and west into the Ohio Valley and Mississippi Valley.
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