Heavy rain, landslides and deadly floods hit US South and Gulf Coast

Heavy rain is affecting the South and the Gulf Cost of US, bringing deadly flash flooding, dangerous lightning strikes and landslides across multiple states.

"Impulses of upper-level energy combined with plenty of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will keep the South unsettled through the end of the week. As a result, the threat of localized flooding will continue in parts of the region where rain or thunderstorms persist in any one location for too long," meteorologist Chris Dolce said.

Weather.com reports: 

At least three people died on Tuesday, April 15, 2015 in Louisiana which was hardest hit by recent floods. Three-year-old Remy Dufrene died after floodwaters swept the boy into a drainage ditch in Lafourche Parish. In Kenner, Louisiana, a mother and her daughter drowned after their SUV veered off the road and submerged in a local, rain-swollen canal, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office confirms.

In Kentucky, a man was found dead in a creek after search and rescue teams located his submerged vehicle.

The storms also created a dangerous situation when lightning ignited a few storage tanks in western Texas Sunday night, according to The Associated Press. Hundreds of miles away, a mother and daughter were injured by a lightning strike in Macclenny, Florida.

A large rockslide closed Kentucky 1274 in Menifee County Tuesday, WKYT said. Heavy rains caused a massive boulder and several other stones to fall, blocking both lanes of the road.

A major flash flooding hit Kentucky on April 2 and 3, 2015 closing roads, delaying schools and prompting more than 100 water rescues.

You can read the latest impacts from several of the states affected by this round of flooding here.

Source: Weather.com

Featured image: Major flash flooding in Louisville, Kentucky on April 2, 2015. Image courtesy of WHAS11.com.