Storms sweep Northeast, thousands evacuated, 10 thought dead

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- The storm that drenched the nation's capital swept into the Northeast on Wednesday, forcing thousands of people from their homes, including more than 2,200 who fled from a rising Maryland lake. A section of interstate highway was washed out in New York state and least 10 deaths were blamed on the stormy weather. Three people were missing.\nAfter days of heavy rain and floods, the sun was shining in Washington, D.C. as the storm moved into New York and New England, but rivers were still rising in Virginia. Highways across the region were blocked by flooding and washouts.\nVirtually the entire state of Pennsylvania was under a flood watch or warning.\n"We don't have anywhere to go," evacuee Mehader Mekonne said Wednesday at a shelter in Montgomery County, Md.\nThe largest numbers of evacuations were ordered in an area surrounding Lake Needwood on the north side of Rockville, Md., which was approaching 25 feet above normal Wednesday, Montgomery County officials said.\nEngineers found weakened spots on the lake's earthen dam, with water seeping through in places, said Bruce Romer, the county's chief administrative officer. Engineers were inspecting the dam Wednesday to determine what could be done to strengthen it.\nBy Wednesday morning, police and rescue crews had evacuated an estimated 2,200 people from 500 apartments and 700 homes, Romer said. About 100 people refused to leave, he said. If the dam were to break, it could flood some areas as much as 20 feet, officials said.\nNew York state emergency officials said two truckers were killed when they drove into a chasm cut across Interstate 88. A flooded creek under the road washed out all four lanes of the highway, about 35 miles northeast of Binghamton.\nIt was raining hard at the time and it was unclear if the truckers saw the 25-foot deep hole early Wednesday morning, said state police Lt. Robert Galletto Jr.\nHundreds of people were evacuated from homes in the Binghamton area because of flooding on the Susquehanna and other rivers, along with residents of areas in the eastern part of the state.\nA house was reported floating down the rain-swollen Susquehanna River near Binghamton and whole villages to the north in rural Delaware County were cut off by flooding.\n"We have significant flooding throughout the county," said Delaware County planning director Nicole Franzese. "... Widespread power outages, bridges washed out, roads washed out, the National Guard was operating all night."\nTen New York counties declared states of emergency.\nBinghamton got a record 4.05 inches of rain Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.\nInterstate 81 also was closed at Lenox in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the small towns of New Milford and Lanesboro were evacuated, state police said.\nPennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell declared a disaster emergency in 46 of the state's 67 counties Wednesday and the National Guard had been sent into Schuylkill County, west of Allentown, late Tuesday to help evacuate residents.\nOfficials in Alexandria, Va., urged residents and businesses to prepare for high water on the Potomac River, and states of emergency were declared Tuesday for Sussex County, Del., and the District of Columbia. The Virginia Department of Transportation said more than 200 roads ware closed by high water.\nAlong the Delaware River, Trenton, N.J., Mayor Douglas H. Palmer ordered residents to evacuate low-lying neighborhoods to evacuate.\n"Unfortunately, our county residents along the river are becoming all too experienced at this," said David Gallant, public safety director for Warren County innorthwestern New Jersey.\nResidents also had been evacuated from low-lying communities in parts of Virginia, where volunteers stacked at least 5,000 pounds of sandbags to protect the town of Buchanan from the James River, expected to crest at 9 feet above flood stage.\nThe weather was blamed for two traffic deaths in Pennsylvania and one in Maryland. A 15-year-old boy drowned in a lake in Pennsylvania's Luzerne County and his mother's boyfriend drowned trying to rescue him, police said.\nThree people died in western Maryland when they were washed out of the bed of a pickup truck shortly after they were rescued from a car that stalled in high water late Tuesday, authorities said. The three young adults were rescued by passersby, but then the rescuers' truck got stuck in rushing water, said Frederick County fire and rescue services spokesman Michael Dmuchowski.\nElsewhere in Maryland, a search resumed Wednesday for two youths, ages 14 and 15, who were reported missing near a swollen creek at Keymar, said state police 1st Sgt. Russell Newell.\nTeams in Virginia searched for an 8-year-old girl swept away by high water in Alleghany County.\nAssociated Press writers David Dishneau, Stephen Manning and Kasey Jones in Maryland; William Kates in New York state; Michael Rubinkam in Pennsylvania; Chris Newmarker in New Jersey, and Marty Niland and Derrill Holly in Washington contributed to this report.