AKIPRESS.COM - Floods in Missouri forced hundreds of residents out of their homes on Tuesday after four days of storms sent rivers to record levels, killing at least 13 people, closing hundreds of roads and halting shipping on the swollen Mississippi river, reports Reuters. 

A week of chaotic weather continued throughout the United States as a storm system that spawned deadly tornadoes in the Midwest and Southwest pushed north. More than 40 people across the country have died of weather-related causes during the Christmas holidays in the past week.

Missouri has been pounded by downpours since Saturday, and forecasters warned that its major rivers could crest between Wednesday and Saturday at records.

"Flooding on the middle portion of the Mississippi River and its tributaries may reach levels not seen during the winter months since records began during the middle 1800s," Alex Sosnowski, senior meteorologist, wrote on AccuWeather.com.

At the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, about 20 miles (32 km) north of St. Louis, residents of the towns West Alton and Arnold were told to evacuate on Tuesday.

"Access to and from town will be lost in a matter of hours," the local Rivers Pointe Fire District said in an alert. Video from local news helicopters showed homes in West Alton with water almost at roof levels.

Arnold residents scrambled to find hotels or move to shelters.

Sarah Quinn, 18, said she and her great-grandparents were moving to a hotel room after police turned off the power at her subdivision. Her sister, grandmother and other relatives decided to brave it out without power because they wanted to stay in their homes and vehicles to look after their pets.

"I've never had this happen before. We've had simple flooding in the back of our subdivision and we've had to sandbag before, but it wasn't this severe," said Quinn, who spoke to Reuters by telephone, from her job in a local restaurant.