Important Takeaways:

• Up to 4 months’ worth of rain may fall in less than a week across part of the central United States, threatening major flooding and endangering lives and property.
• A firehose of moisture is forecast to produce repeating thunderstorms with torrential downpours over the middle of the United States from Wednesday to this weekend. More than a foot of rain may pour down from portions of Arkansas to Kentucky and Ohio, likely triggering rapid, major and historic flooding, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
• More than 46 million people will be affected by rounds of intense rainfall over the central U.S. Of this, at least 13 million will be within a high- to extreme-flood risk zone. Within these higher-risk areas, there is the potential for catastrophic flooding in some communities.
• There is the potential for up to four months’ worth of rain to fall in five days along portions of a 1,000-mile-long swath. Small streams and drainage systems in urban areas will not be able to handle the surge of rainfall. In extreme cases, rainfall rates of up to a few inches per hour can occur, which can lead to rapid flash flooding.
• “Should the amount of rain occur that we anticipate over the middle of the nation, it would exceed the 500 to 1,000-year average,” Clark said, “Truly, the potential is there for a historic flash flooding event.”
• People living along or traveling on roads near small streams in hilly terrain should be especially vigilant for rapidly rising water that can sweep vehicles and homes away.

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