Flash flooding has been a major problem in recent days in places such as Maui, Molokai and the Big Island, where rain had been falling between 1 and 2in (2.5 and 5cm) an hour overnight, according to the Hawaii emergency management agency.
On August 17, 1915, a mob in Cobb County, Georgia, lynched Jewish businessman Leo Frank, 31, whose death sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan had been commuted to life imprisonment.
The Guadalupe River had soared so much that by the time Melvin and his wife came out of the motor home, the water was waist-deep. The river swelled more than 26 feet in less than an hour.
When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, it caused enormous devastation, leading to significant changes in US volcanic monitoring and preparedness.