Heavy rain and fierce winds have pummeled the central and southeastern United States for more than five days, leaving a trail of death, damage and disruption across parts of 19 states.

The storm system, born of warm air, strong winds, abundant moisture and an unstable atmosphere, drenched the middle of the country through the weekend, devastating communities from Texas to Ohio with flooding and tornadoes.

The storm is now dumping rain on several states along the Atlantic coast. Weather conditions on Monday forced the Augusta National Golf Club to suspend a practice round for the Masters and evacuate the grounds at 11:25 a.m.

The storm is expected to move out to sea by Tuesday, leaving behind enough fallen rain to keep rivers and streams swelling for days to come.

Here’s what to know about the destructive system.

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John Clayton transported his cat on Sunday in Frankfort, Ky.Credit…Michael Swensen/Getty Images

The heavy rain from the storm lasted for days in many areas, saturating the ground and engorging streams and rivers with much more runoff than they could handle.

Sources: NOAA (rainfall); MapLibre (map rendering); Natural Earth (roads and labels); Protomaps (map tiles)

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By William B. Davis and Joey K. Lee

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