Hey, thanks for taking ten minutes to watch CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Carl Azuz at the CNN Center and today's commercial free coverage begins in Iraq.The Middle Eastern country had nationwide elections yesterday.The first since U.S. combat troops left the country in 2011.Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is running for a third term in office.He says turnout was expected to be historically high, and that's despite worsening waves of violence.At least seven people were killed yesterday in attacks at polling stations.The United Nations says last year was Iraq's deadliest since 2008, that more than 8800 people, mostly civilians were killed in different attacks.Sectarian violence, fighting between Sunni and Shia Muslims is the cause of a lot of it, but terrorism also factors in.With Al Qaeda linked groups fighting Iraqi government forces.Next story today, the same storm system that brought deadly tornadoes to the central and south eastern U.S. has had another disastrous affect-flooding.What looks like a river in this Florida neighborhood was actually a street.Look at this. A rush of muddy water where there should be asphalt and traffic.The Florida Panhandle is no stranger to heavy storms and hurricanes, but some of the folks CNN talked to in the area told us they've never seen anything like this.Almost 19 inches of rain in just 24 hours fell on parts of Florida and Alabama.Florida's governor has declared the state of emergency and warned that more rain and flooding could be ahead.
