C. nearly three years ago reduced the number of plastic bags ending up in the nearby Anacostia River by 60 percent and caused three-quarters of residents to cut their use of disposable bags, according to a follow-up survey.

MSN: Reusable shopping bag measure advances

In suburban Chicago, which got up to 7 inches of rain in a 24-hour period ending Thursday, record levels of water were moving through the Des Plaines River past heavily populated western suburbs and into the Illinois River to the south.

NPR: Floodwaters Rising After Storms Deluge Heartland

The Fleet continues to wind its way north, ending up at Hampstead Heath, the ponds of which were actually formed by a damming of the river in the 18th Century.

BBC: In search of London's lost rivers