Rescuers have pulled people from inundated cars on flooded streets near Baltimore as heavy rain soaked the US mid-Atlantic coast for a fifth day, swelling rivers, closing roads and endangering homes.
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Across the country, where separate downpours soaked parts of Colorado, a woman was found dead from apparent drowning in floodwaters that swept a basement apartment in suburban Denver.
Heavy rains on the Eastern seaboard fell overnight from central New York state south through eastern North Carolina, where the National Weather Service forecast that a new round of downpours could cause more flooding. Eastern Virginia and Pennsylvania were also hard hit.
Emergency workers around Baltimore pulled people from at least three vehicles stuck in floodwater as deep as 0.9 metres.
Authorities closed highways and roads in parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia because of flooding.
The weather service said as much as 36 cm of rain had fallen along the East Coast since Saturday, swelling waterways well above flood levels.
Local news video showed water streaming into homes and businesses and reaching the tops of automobiles as rescue crews worked to save motorists.
Airports in New York and Philadelphia reported delays of more than an hour.
Downpours and possible showers were forecast to linger across the region for several more days.
Separately, parts of Colorado were drenched with rain on Wednesday morning, where officials warned of flash flooding and debris in areas recently scarred by wildfires.
In the Denver suburb of Englewood, a 32-year-old woman died on Wednesday of injuries "consistent with drowning" after floodwaters inundated the basement apartment where she was staying. (Reporting by in Washington; Additional reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)
Australian Associated Press