FRANKFORT, Kentucky (AP) — Days of unrelenting heavy rain and storms that killed at least 18 people worsened flooding as some rivers rose to near-record levels and inundated towns across an already saturated U.S. South and parts of the Midwest.

Flooding worsened across the U.S. South and Midwest, threatening communities already waterlogged and badly damaged by days of heavy rain and storms that killed at least 23 people.

A dayslong deluge of rain finally subsided across the South and Midwest on Monday, but, like the extensive flooding that followed, the danger for many communities will be slow to recede.