Pennsylvania flash floods kill at least five

Two children remain missing after vehicle was swept away by floodwater

A road is closed after fatal flash flooding in the US state of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Inquirer / AP

At least five people have been killed and two children are missing after flash flooding in Pennsylvania as the US North-east was buffeted by heavy rain at the weekend.

“Our prayers are with those waiting for word about their loved ones, and those who lost friends, family, and neighbours,” Philadelphia Governor Josh Shapiro wrote on Twitter.

Officials said the heavy rain started about 5.30pm on Saturday. A nine-month-old boy and his two-year-old sister remained missing on Monday.

Upper MakeField Township fire chief Tim Brewer said the missing children were on their way to visit friends when their vehicle became trapped in the flooding.

“As they tried to escape the fierce floodwaters, Dad took his four-year-old son, while the mother and the grandmother grabbed the two additional children, aged nine months and two years,” Mr Brewer said.

“The father and son were miraculously able to get to safety. However, the grandmother, the mother and the two children were swept away by the floodwaters,” he said. The mother was among those later found dead.

Mr Brewer said officials were continuing search-and-rescue efforts.

Flash-flood warnings were also issued for parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and New Hampshire.

“Here comes the rain. It just seems unrelenting this year,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said.

“You have to avoid unnecessary travel. A flash flood doesn’t give you warning … and in those moments your car can go from a place of safety to a place of death.”

Meanwhile, police reported flooded roads in Vermont, which had experienced record water levels last week. The National Weather Service (NWS) said it anticipated dry conditions on Monday before rain returns on Tuesday.

US West and South sizzle under heatwave

The southern, south-western US and Florida were forecast to continue to suffer under oppressive heat this week.

Daily temperatures are also expected to remain “remarkably warm” and break records, the NWS reported.

“This means little in the way of relief for areas desperately needing to cool off from the sizzling daytime highs,” it said in a Monday bulletin.

Phoenix on Sunday reported its 17th consecutive day of temperatures above 43°C. The NWS has placed the city under an excessive heat warning until Wednesday.

The NWS said 80 million people were under an excessive heat warning or heat advisory on Sunday morning.

In California's Death Valley state park, the temperature in Furnace Creek hit 53.3°C.

The weather agency on Monday said the Four Corner states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah are expected to register record-breaking heat until midweek. Searing temperatures are also expected for Texas, southern Florida and the lower Mississippi valley.

AP contributed to this report