Severe Weather in Midwest, Southeast Snarls Travel

Severe weather throughout the Midwest and Southeast impacted travel on a busy Labor Day holiday.

Torrential rains and heavy winds canceled, delayed and diverted flights at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Plus, traffic into the airport was snarled as roadways into the airport flooded. ABC News 7 Chicago reported that close to 200 flights were canceled and that the International Terminal 5 was flooding with water rising from the floors and falling from the ceiling.

Meanwhile, in the Southeast, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for Tropical Storm Gordon for portions of the central Gulf Coast to the Alabama-Florida border.

At 5 p.m. Eastern on Monday, the storm was about 50 miles West Southwest of Fort Myers, Fla., with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph. The hurricane center predicted Gordon is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 2 to 4 inches over the northwestern Bahamas, Florida Keys, and South Florida through early Tuesday, although isolated torrents of 8 inches are possible over the southern Florida peninsula.

The storm then is expected to produce 4 to 6 inches of rain over southern Alabama, southern and central Mississippi, and southeastern and northeastern Louisiana, with isolated maximum amounts of 8 inches through late Thursday. These rainfall amounts may cause flash flooding. Tornadoes also were possible across the southern and west-central Florida Peninsula.

South Florida was battered with heavy rain and winds Monday, as thousands of residents lost power and beaches were closed, according to NBC Miami. Flight delays were reported at the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports.