Flood warnings covered much of the northeastern United States on Friday after a week of unrelenting rain that has forced people to flee their water-filled homes and caused airlines to delay flights, Reuters reported. Flooding swamped streets in northern New Jersey, drenching basements of stores and residences, while rains hampered relief work in New Hampshire where flooding has killed seven people and left at least 18 families homeless. "In the Northeast, we've had the normal month's rainfall for October in the last six days," said Peter Gabrielsen, chief of the National Weather Service's division that monitors floods and rainfall in the eastern United States. Nearly 12 inches of rain has fallen in New York City's Central Park since Oct. 7, when the showers began across much of the Northeast, he said. Another 2 to 3 inches was forecast to fall on Friday and possibly early Saturday. "We've had a stalled cold front that is bringing in moisture along the Atlantic. There is a big high-pressure system moving in from the Midwest and that is going to push this rain out by either late tonight or early tomorrow," he said. "We should start to see some clearing by Sunday." --more 2036 Local Time 1736 GMT
