Flooding blamed for at least 16 deaths in the American midwest is threatening to worsen, with many rivers overflowing their banks and water levels climbing.

To the north, a fresh snowstorm blew into the Chicago area on Friday, prompting authorities to cancel flights.

Forecasters said the storm could leave as much as 23cm of heavy snow in the region.

Weather warning

A blizzard warning remained in effect in northern Maine, where fierce winds had already scattered almost half a metre or more of snow.

"Even though it was spring yesterday, we still have winter on our doorstep," spokeswoman Ginny Joles of Maine Public Service Company, northern Maine's major electricity company, says.

On Thursday, the first day of spring, brought much-needed sunshine to some flooded communities, but many swelling rivers were not expected to crest until the weekend in Arkansas, Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana and Kentucky.

The worst flooding happened in smaller rivers across the nation's midsection. Major channels such as the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers saw only minor flooding.

Dead, missing

At least 16 deaths have been linked to the weather over the past few days, and at least two people were missing.

Searchers in Texas recovered a body yesterday that matched the description of a teenager washed down a drainage pipe, but hadn't confirmed it was him.

Two people were missing yesterday in Arkansas after their vehicles were swept away by rushing water on Tuesday.

Measures against flooding

Homeowners, merchants and even schools in parts of Missouri, Indiana and Arkansas were building sandbag walls around their properties and moving to higher ground.

In Batesville, Arkansas, antique mall operator Marcia Weaver stood on the bank of the Spring River and watched property wash away in the floodwaters.

"There were large pieces of furniture, dressers, picnic tables from the parks. I saw a four-wheeler going down. Lots of canoes and kayaks that didn't have anybody in them," she said.

Government forecasters warned that some flooding could continue in the coming days because of record rainfall and melting snow packs across much of the midwest and northeast.