A large-scale search is underway for missing children swept away by floods in suburban Philadelphia.

WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pennsylvania — (FloridaToday.news) — Crews in suburban Philadelphia on Monday stepped up their search for a missing 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister, who were swept away after weekend rains blew the banks of a creek as they drove the family kebabs.

Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said Monday the effort will be a “massive undertaking” and that 100 search crews and many drones will search for the brothers and sisters along a creek that flows into the Delaware River in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The children are members of a Charleston, South Carolina family who were visiting relatives and friends when they were hit by flooding on Saturday, Brewer said.

“When they tried to escape the flood, dad took his 4-year-old son, and mother and grandmother took two more children,” he said. Father and son “miraculously” managed to get to a safe place. “However, the grandmother, mother and two children were washed away by flood waters,” Brewer said. The mother was among those who were later found dead.

The grandmother survived, Upper Makefield Police said in a social media post. But the mother of two children died. Four more people died as a result of the flood, but it is not known who they are. The names of the victims have not been released.

Colleen Courtney, who attended a church conference near the raid site on Monday, was among those who prayed for the families.

“It’s just such a tragedy and so much grief, I’m sure, and mourning that’s happening right now. I pray that these children are found,” said Courtney of Ewing, New Jersey.

Another press conference is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

The already saturated northeast began to dry out on Monday after heavy rain over the weekend led to flash flooding in parts of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency Sunday and planned to drive around the damage in the northwestern part of the state early Monday.

A confirmed tornado touched down Sunday morning in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, but there were no reports of injuries or major property damage. In New Hampshire, where some roads collapsed in several cities, heavy rain delayed Sunday’s NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway by a day.

Vermont has reported no immediate safety threats since historic flooding almost a week ago, with up to two months of rain falling in two days. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg planned to visit the state later Monday.

The Vermont Emergency Management Agency said fast current rescue teams conducted six more rescues overnight after the storm. The agency also monitors areas at risk of landslides due to precipitation.

More rain was forecast on Tuesday.

Severe storms on Sunday caused hundreds of flights to be canceled at airports in the New York area and hundreds were delayed.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell in Suffolk County on Long Island in two hours. The state received $50 million in hurricane damage last week.

In North Carolina, flood waters killed a 49-year-old woman whose car was blown off a road in Alexander County late Saturday night. The man who was in the car with her was rescued.

Thousands of people in Kansas and Missouri were left without power on Monday due to hurricanes that swept those states over the weekend. Evergy, Kansas’ largest electricity provider, said it could take several days for all customers to have power back up. This could cause hardship for these people as more storms and sweltering heat are expected in Kansas and Missouri earlier this week, according to the National Weather Service.

Deadly flash flooding in Pennsylvania was a reminder of the torrential rain that killed at least 25 people in New Jersey as the remnants of Ida passed through the state in 2021. Low houses then.

In 2018, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, heavy rains raised up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of water in a short time. Nobody died in that flood.

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Associated Press contributors Ron Todt in Philadelphia; David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; and Leah Willingham of Charleston, West Virginia contributed to this report.

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