PEGGS, Okla. – Searchers on Tuesday found the body of a 2-year-old girl who was swept away by rushing water when her mother slipped while carrying her across a flooded creek, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
Mackinsey Beck disappeared into the creek near Peggs on Monday as her mother, Heather Alverson, carried her from their home to escape rising water.
"She had the baby on her shoulders and slipped and fell, she and the baby both fell in the rushing water," said Trooper Betsy Randolph.
The National Weather Service said as much as 6 inches of rain fell on the area Monday as severe thunderstorms pounded parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. High wind and a few tornadoes caused scattered damage.
In western Tennessee, one man was missing after being swept into a flooded ditch Monday, and a 7-year-old drowned in a rain-swollen creek while playing with friends, Shelby County sheriff's department spokesman Steve Shular said. The Memphis area got 2.4 inches of rain overnight, the weather service said Tuesday.
Elsewhere, heavy snow fell across the Upper Midwest, with just over 6 inches by Tuesday morning in parts of central and northwestern Wisconsin, and 7.5 inches in St. Paul, Minn.
The Minnesota State Patrol said slick roads contributed to at least one traffic death Monday.
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