Deadly floods hit central US with Missouri worst affected

This family declined evacuation orders as a creek overtopped its banks in Newburg, Missouri

Up to three people have died in flash floods that have sparked alerts in several US states.

A child was killed and his mother is presumed dead after their car was swept away in Missouri, which has suffered the worst of the deluge.

Another woman died as her car drove over a bridge in rapidly rising waters in the same state.

Flash flood warnings are also in place in parts of Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

More heavy rains are forecast into the weekend.

'Class V whitewater'

A Missouri woman died on Thursday morning when her car was hit by floodwaters on a road in McDonald County, said local emergency management director Gregg Sweeten.

And state officials say hopes are fading that 23-year-old Jessica Lee will be found alive. Her vehicle was washed away by floodwaters near Waynesville on Tuesday.

The body of her four-year-old son, Elyjah, has already been found.

A baby was among those rescued from the flood waters

The rains turned a normally placid creek into "a Class V whitewater river", said Pulaski County Sheriff Ron Long.

Some 15in (38cm) of rain was recorded in a 48-hour period near Waynesville.

At least 100 homes and businesses in Hollister, Missouri, were damaged when a creek flooded.

Scores of people were evacuated, some of whom had to be rescued by boat.

The Interstate 44 motorway in central Missouri reopened on Thursday after floodwaters receded, but many other roads remained inundated in the south of the state.

In Nashville, Tennessee, firefighters had to wade through waist-deep floodwaters to rescue residents of one apartment building, after up to 8in of rain fell in a few hours.

Arkansas saw about 10in of rain fall in Benton County, while parts of Kansas and Oklahoma saw 6in of rain.