Trapped campers, swimming bears in Montana as floods hit US
Posted June 22, 2018 7:00 am
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Helicopters have rescued people stranded by flooding in Texas and Montana, including 140 children and counselors stuck in a mountain bible camp for two days.
Campers were lifted out Thursday after a washed-out road cut off the only exit. Montana was just drying out from spring flooding caused by near-record snowfall over the winter when a three-day rainstorm hit last weekend.
Severe storms have swept the Rockies and the Midwest this week. The soaking comes in contrast to tinder-dry conditions in the Southwest.
Forecasters say rain is expected to move out of far South Texas by Friday but much of the central and southeast U.S. will be at risk of severe storms as the weekend approaches
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This story corrects that the Montana rain fell last weekend, not this week.
In this photo provided by the Montana Army National Guard, middle school students from the Montana Wilderness School of the Bible, attending a Bible camp along the Rocky Mountain Front, are guided onto a Chinook helicopter Thursday, June 21, 2018. The campers were flown to Great Falls after flooding earlier this week washed out the road to the camp. (Montana Army National Guard via AP)
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U.S. Border Patrol agents help a stranded motorist on Bryan Road after heavy rains caused water to rise and flood whole neighborhoods, Thursday, June 21, 2018, in Mission, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP)
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A car, supported by a single lounge stool, sits in the rear of the Trolley Stop Inn in Bethel Park, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2018, as clean up begins after heavy rains the night before caused severe flooding,. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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Ariana Torres, 4, and Jose Pena, 6, play in the water on their street near McAllen High School after heavy rains caused water to rise and flood neighborhoods on Thursday, June 21, 2018, in McAllen, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP)
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Residents use a canoe to paddle through high water after heavy rains caused water to rise and flood whole neighborhoods on Thursday, June 21, 2018, in McAllen, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP)
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Workers clean up at the Trolley Stop Inn in Bethel Park, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2018, after heavy rains the night before caused severe flooding. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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Workers clean up at the Trolley Stop Inn in Bethel Park, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2018, after heavy rains the night before caused severe flooding. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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Vehicles drive through rising water along Hollywood Road in St. Joseph, Mich., Thursday, June 21, 2018, after strong storms dumped several inches of rain in Southwest Michigan. A third county in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been added to the state's disaster declaration following severe flooding. (Don Campbell/The Herald-Palladium via AP)
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In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018, photo crews work in flood waters on Baldwin Street in Bridgeville, Pa. Strong storms containing heavy rains have caused severe flooding in parts of western Pennsylvania, spurring dozens of evacuations and damaging numerous vehicles and other property. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
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In this Wednesday, June 20, 2018, photo crews work to clean up from flood waters on Baldwin Street in Bridgeville, Pa. Strong storms containing heavy rains have caused severe flooding in parts of western Pennsylvania, spurring dozens of evacuations and damaging numerous vehicles and other property. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
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