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CHICAGO (AP) - The rains and a rapid rise in temperatures on Saturday caused some flooding in central Colombia, after the area was battered for days by a cold snap that left a covering of snow and ice.

The cold and slippery roads were identified as the cause of at least 44 deaths this week: 11 in Indiana, eight in Wisconsin, five in Ohio, five in Michigan, four in Kentucky, four in Missouri, two in Kansas, and one in Illinois, Oklahoma, Iowa, Massachusetts and West Virginia.

The thick layer of ice on the roads has melted mountain snow and turned into puddles and water currents.

"We are emerging from a problem, ice, with another to suffer flooding," said Marisa Kollias, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings Saturday for parts of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri. Up to five centimeters (two inches) of rain fell in two hours during the night in central and western Illinois, reported the service on Saturday.

And then that the air was warm with the cold, the weather service posted tornado warnings for parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kansas.

The intense winds left 42,000 people without electricity in the west of Missouri. The problem was resolved in large part to Saturday night.

After icy temperatures recorded in several locations this week, the thermometer marked on Saturday, even five degrees above zero centigrade (40 Fahrenheit), the agency said. However, heavy snowfalls were expected in Michigan for Sunday night.

The service said the Chariton River had overflowed and caused minor flooding in Chariton, Iowa. He said that floods were reported in parts of Missouri.

By Saturday night, the rain stopped, and an ice storm hit much of Iowa.

Near Chicago, the Cook County offered sandbags to protect communities in need of low-lying areas, said the county government spokesman Sean Howard.

Hundreds of people spent the night at Midway Airport in Chicago, where all flights on Friday night were canceled because of fog. There were also 400 cancellations at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, the second most transited the country.