KEENE - After more than a day and a half of drenching rain, rivers and streams overflowed throughout New Hampshire yesterday, flooding homes, washing out roads, threatening bridges and prompting evacuations.

"This is classic river flooding,"said Jim Van Dongen, spokesman for the state Emergency Management office. "It's been raining since Friday night, and there is nowhere for the water to go."

Two fatalities occurred when a car apparently drove off a washed out bridge into flood waters in Unity, said Pam Walsh, Gov. John Lynch's spokeswoman. WMUR-TV reported the victims were the driver, a 20-year-old man from Unity, and his passenger, a 20-year-old from Claremont.

A man kayaking in the North Branch River was reported missing, and searchers were unable to find him or his boat before nightfall.

The most severe flooding was in Keene, where some major roads were under water. Officials were directing residents on high ground to stay in their homes. Fire officials reported four to six feet of water on some streets.

Keene Fire Chief Gary Lamoureaux estimated that 30-40 percent of the downtown area was under water.

Transportation Commissioner Carol Murray said there weren't more injuries because local police and local and state highway crews blocked damaged roads before dawn.

"We were lucky there weren't more (fatalities) and a lot of that was because these guys did get out so fast," she said.

A house was washed into the Cold River in Langdon, Murray said. She said the Route 123 bridge over the river also was washed out.

A dam on Warren Lake in Alstead breached early yesterday, sending an "4 or 5 foot wall of water" downstream, damaging at least a half dozen bridges on Route 123. Murray said by early evening inspectors had not been able to check all the damage but "what we have seen is not good."

Alstead is virtually cut off, she said.

A historic double arch stone bridge washed away in Walpole and a 300-400 foot section of roadway in Hinsdale village was heavily damaged.

"The water was just out of control, out of control," said Murray.

One Hinsdale resident, 19-year-old Sean Weeks, was awakened by firefighters about 3:30 a.m. and told to evacuate from his apartment house - just next to the stone bridge.

"I looked out my window and all I could see - straight down - was water, right up against the building," Weeks said. "I saw all this New Orleans stuff happening and I was thinking, 'This can't happen to me,' then bada-bing, bada-boom, it just happened."

Weeks came out just in time to see a house across the street collapse into the raging water. No one was in the house at the time.

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