NEW YORK, June 29: Flooding and rainstorms have killed seven people, cut power to thousands and caused mass evacuations in the north-eastern United States, officials said on Wednesday.

In one of the worst hit areas in eastern Pennsylvania, county officials ordered the evacuation of up to 200,000 people from low-lying areas around the Susquehanna River.

The fatalities included three dead in Maryland, three in New York state and one in Pennsylvania.

In Maryland, the Frederick County sheriff’s office said that two men and one woman drowned after flood waters swept them from a stalled pickup truck late Tuesday.

Another person died ‘as a result of flooding’ in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, emergency officials said.

New York state police confirmed three storm-related fatalities, including two truck drivers whose vehicles crashed into a sinkhole on Interstate 88 in Delaware County. A man was confirmed dead in nearby Chenango County after his car was swept away by floodwaters.

Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania ordered the mass evacuations. “It’s a precautionary measure with the flood waters expected to peak later this evening,” said Linette Quinn, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania State Police.

“We are requesting them to leave the area. They stay at their own risk,” Quinn said, adding that shelters were being established to house the evacuees.

A leaky dam, swollen to near-bursting after days of torrential rain, forced 2,300 people to evacuate their homes in Montgomery County, Maryland, outside Washington, officials said.

As Maryland’s Lake Needwood swelled to 25 feet (eight meters) above its normal level, police went door to door to order people from their homes around the lake, Sue Tucker, public information officer for Montgomery County, said.

Bill Delaney, assistant public information officer for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, said it was not yet clear when residents could return. “Right now, we just want to make sure everyone is safe and out of harm’s way, and we don’t want to return them until we have assurances from the experts that the danger has passed and it would be safe for them to return,” he said.

County officials were meeting with engineers to discuss pumping out excess water.

The American Red Cross set up shelters for displaced residents, according to Tucker.

A stationary storm front dumped up to 25 centimetres of rain in the Washington area and elsewhere along the US East Coast from Saturday to late Tuesday.

Washington Mayor Anthony Williams declared a state of emergency for the capital, enabling him to request assistance from the National Guard, after flooding caused extensive damage and disruption.

A state of emergency was also declared for 46 counties in Pennsylvania and four in New York state, officials said.—AFP