(VOVworld) – Missouri residents struggled through a fourth straight day of storms on Tuesday, fighting rising floodwaters that inundated homes, forced evacuations and closed highways and even part of the Mississippi River.

Volunteers use shovels atop a pile of sand as they help fill sandbags Tuesday in St. Louis. (photo:AP)

Three new flood-related deaths were discovered on Tuesday, the governor told a news conference, raising the death toll over the weekend to 13. The local authority said a dozen of those deaths had been caused by vehicles being swept from flooded roads and warned motorists should never drive around barricades or into standing water.
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 have died of weather-related causes during the Christmas holidays in the past week.