Flash floods sparked by heavy rain hit parts of Virginia, western Maryland and Pennsylvania on Tuesday, leaving a 12-year-old boy missing in Virginia and forcing elementary schools in rural Maryland to evacuate, authorities said.

Severe flooding has left parts of Meyersdale Borough in Somerset County underwater after heavy rains pounded the area on Tuesday.

In a message posted Tuesday night on social media, the Albemarle County Fire Rescue service in Virginia said county police had received a call late in the afternoon about a boy being swept away by a flood-swollen creek. The fire department said search efforts had to be put on hold after about three hours, “due to limited visibility in the overnight hours and the safety of all those involved.”

The fire and rescue service said the search would resume on Wednesday, and it warned residents not to “self-deploy” in attempt to find the missing child as conditions remained dangerous.

Another elementary school in the region was also evacuated, and students at a middle school were told to shelter in place for a while on Tuesday, according to the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services.

Homes flooded in southern Pennsylvania

Residents in low-lying areas of Meyersdale, near the Maryland border in Pennsylvania’s Somerset County, were ordered to evacuate Tuesday as the Casselman River rose precipitously.

“We are seeing flooding in the majority of the houses in town,” Meyersdale Mayor Shane Smith said, according to KDKA, CBS Pittsburgh. “Some even as high as the first floor. Roads throughout the area are being destroyed by the fast-moving water… This is some of the most severe flooding we’ve ever seen.”

Smith declared a state of emergency for Meyersdale. He said there were no reported injuries, and that both federal and state emergency management personnel were expected in the town on Wednesday to help coordinate the response.

There were also reports of flood and storm related road closures and some damage in Bedford and Campbell Counties in Virginia, and a hospital being partially flooded in eastern Tennessee, near the Virginia state line. Authorities said two women had to be rescued from an inundated vehicle on a washed out road in Bedford

Rural western Maryland schools forced to evacuate

About 100 miles north, in the far western corner of Maryland, the North Branch Potomac River and some tributaries burst their banks on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of schools and businesses.

According to KDKA, about 150 students and 50 adults had to be evacuated from the Westernport Elementary School. The floodwaters rose so quickly and entered the building that brothers William and Quinton Wade were left trapped inside with dozens of others.

“Whenever we were going down to get in the boat, the first floor was flooded,” Quinton, a second-grader at the school, told KDKA.

“The first floor had been flooded all the way to the ceiling,” added William, who is in fourth grade.

“I didn’t get any call from the school. I didn’t know any plan. I didn’t know anything. So, my instinct was, get my kids,” the boys’ mother Alley Wade told KDKA. She said she rushed from her job to the school, but found the water too high for her to do anything, so she waited while the rescuers in boats saved her kids and dozens of others. 

Alley Wade said she had never seen such severe flooding in their town.

“I have never. Now, I believe there was a bad flood in 1996, but I was 4,” she said.

While the Wades’ home was unscathed, some homes and businesses in Westernport were inundated Tuesday after hours of heavy rain.

In a statement released in the early Wednesday morning hours, Maryland Governor Wes Moore urged people in the affected region to “remain vigilant, heed warnings from local officials, and prioritize safety during this time,” adding: “If you don’t have to go out, please do not go out. Stay off the roads if possible and heed any evacuation orders.”

According to the governor’s office, parts of Allegany County had already seen at least 4.65 inches of rain in 24 hours, and more rain was expected into Wednesday morning.

The statement said the North Branch Potomac River in Cumberland was expected to peak at 22.6 feet Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, “which would mark the highest river crest since 1996.” 

“We remain in close contact with local officials and continue to coordinate resources as the rain continues to fall,” Moore said in the statement.

The flooding comes on the heels of a new study by the climate science group World Weather Attribution, published this week, that found deadly storms that tore through eight U.S. states in the Midwest and South in the first week of April, killing at least 24 people, were made significantly worse by human-caused climate change. 

The group said its analysis showed that human-caused global warming made the record-breaking downpours about 9% heavier than they would otherwise have been.