US / rainstorms Midwest Flood Death Toll at 16 Flood crests expected over weekend; snow blasts Minnesota, Chicago By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted Mar 21, 2008 4:20 PM CDT Copied Travis Carroll, left, and his wife Marsha look at their flooded basement as they return to salvage what they can as flood waters recede in Dutchtown, Mo., Friday, March 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Storms that caused flooding across the country's midsection have killed 16 people, and bad weather remains a threat, the AP reports. A snowstorm battering Minnesota and Illinois grounded hundreds of flights, and forecasters predicted a 9-inch total. Thousands were forced into shelters as rivers continued to swell; in many states, floodwaters might not crest until the weekend. Smaller channels were the chief source of floods. Texas authorities recovered the body of a boy who’d been washed down a drainage pipe; a woman watched as one river carried away “large pieces of furniture, dressers, picnic tables" in Arkansas, where two were still missing. Maine, meanwhile, faced a foot of snow and a continued blizzard warning. (More rainstorms stories.) Report an error