A bridge collapsed and at least one motorist had to be rescued from high floodwaters in the Seneca area, about 75 miles southwest of Chicago, when more than 6 inches of rain fell in a period of about three hours late Monday into Tuesday, forecasters said.

       The National Weather Service in Chicago issued a flash flood warning at 8:42 p.m. Monday evening and upgraded it to a “considerable” threat at 10:07 p.m. Heavy showers were expected, but meteorologist Ricky Castro said the rainfall was incredibly localized, affecting eastern LaSalle County into western Grundy county.

       Emergency responders said there were at least three water rescues at the intersection of West Dupont and Kinsman roads. “At least three vehicles stuck in the flooded roadway,” an agency told the weather service.

       “There were some other pockets of downpours, in much smaller areas and not nearly the intensity as in the Seneca area,” Castro said. “Sometimes it’s what happens in summertime — we get these really localized events. We’ll have one little area there that gets a pretty incredible amount of rain and outside that area is almost nothing.”

       Outside the immediate area, rainfall totals were in the 1- to 3-inch range. But in that specific portion of LaSalle County, “It just sat over them,” Castro said. There were reports of 4 to 7 inches locally, he said.

       Castro said a personal weather station said there had been 6.19 inches of rain in Seneca, where authorities said a bridge along River Road collapsed.

       “There’s some reports of a bridge partially washed out and some motorists had to be rescued,” Castro said. “That was the hardest-hit area, for sure. There were reports of 6 to 12 inches of standing water in spots. There’s a flood warning in effect until 10:30 a.m. as some of that water recedes.”

       Authorities in Seneca warned residents to stay home during the storm and advised some roads and subdivisions were “severely flooded.”

       A trained weather spotter said there was more than a foot of standing water at the intersection of South Kinsman and West Grand Ridge roads.

       According to the weather service, there were several meteorological factors that contributed to the storm, including high atmospheric moisture, a slow-moving pressure system, a near-stationary warm front that had lifted north during the day and “was parked in the area of the heavy rain on Monday evening.”

       Check back for updates.

       kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

       Twitter @312BreakingNews

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