Deadly flash floods in Pittsburgh

Severe storms hit the Midwest on Saturday and are expected later in the Northeast, where flash flooding killed at least three people in Pittsburgh on Friday.

Heavy rains submerged cars in flood water that was nine feet deep in places in Pittsburgh, authorities said.

A mother and her two daughters died when water engulfed their vehicle in a low-lying section of the city's Washington Boulevard near the Allegheny River.

Kimberly Griffith, 45, and her daughters Brenna, 12, and Mikaela, 8, drowned in the vehicle and were pronounced dead at the scene around 6 p.m., a spokeswoman for the Allegheny County medical examiner's office said.

The water pinned their vehicle to a tree and they were unable to escape, authorities said.

Rescue workers also recovered a body from the river believed to be that of an older woman reported missing during the flood, Raymond DeMichiei, the city's deputy director of emergency management, said.

During the flood, more than a dozen cars were stranded along the road, local media reports said, and paramedics in boats went from car to car to rescue drivers and passengers. Some motorists stood on their vehicles' roofs or clung to trees to avoid the rising water.

Rescue crews used inflatable rafts to reach stranded drivers and 11 were rescued.

PHILADELPHIA SOAKED

The Philadelphia area was also soaked by heavy thunder showers Friday, bringing a record rainfall of 12.95 inches for August, according to NWS meteorologist Lee Robertson.

"Actually, we're on the verge of setting a record for any month," Robertson said. The previous record is from September 1999, set when a hurricane pushed rainfall to 13.07 inches.

As more storms were forecast for the region Sunday, the NWS warned in a flood advisory that nearly half of all flood fatalities are vehicle-related.

"As little as six inches of water will cause you to lose control of your vehicle," the NWS stated.

The Weather Channel forecast more storms from the Great Lakes to the Central Plains into Saturday night.

One man died as storms and a tornado roared across northern Wisconsin Friday night, cutting an 8-mile-wide-swath 65 miles north of Green Bay and taking out power to around 2,000 homes, officials said.

Douglas Brem, 43, was staying in a rented trailer at a recycling center in the path of the storm that caused extensive damage to homes, said Marinette County Coroner George Smith.

Damaging winds and hail were the primary threats for cities from St. Louis to Chicago Saturday, according to weather.com.