Midwest eyes rising floodwaters as skies clear

Residents warily watched as rivers continued to rise Thursday from heavy storms that dumped as much as a foot of rain in the Midwest and left behind more than a dozen deaths.
While the first day of spring brought much needed sunshine Thursday to Ohio and other states, authorities warned that many rivers would crest well above flood stage.
Flooding also was reported Wednesday in parts of Arkansas, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
The storms moved on toward the Ohio Valley and Northeast, spreading snow over northern New England. A parallel band of heavy rain stretched from Alabama and Georgia to the Mid-Atlantic.
On Thursday morning, high water closed the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 a major east-west highway for about 4 miles in central Ohio's Licking County, the State Highway Patrol said.
Morning commuters trying to reach downtown Columbus from the south were being detoured off heavily-traveled U.S. 23, because its northbound lanes were flooded at Interstate 270.
Cincinnati picked up 4.7 inches of rain and then traces of snow on Wednesday,
The area recovered quickly from two days of heavy rain, said Mike Mantel, director of the Service Department in Miami Township, east of Cincinnati. One township road closed Wednesday because of high water was reopened Thursday, and streams were receding, he said.
"We're in really good shape, considering the rainfall we had," Mantel said.
Days of rain turned the Midwest into a soggy mess, flooding roads, stranding motorists and displacing residents with a cleanup bill likely to run in the millions.