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WORLD> America
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Severe weather kills 5; water rises in Indiana
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-09 09:38 Floodwaters that were moving south to eventually drain into the Ohio River led officials to move more than 250 patients and employees from Columbus Regional Hospital in southern Indiana. Workers pumped water out of the basement, and a couple inches of mud covered the first floor of the center, which was forced to close. Jack Elkins, 67, said his condominium near the hospital was inundated with water in a matter of minutes Saturday night. Once the storm drains filled up, it took 15 minutes for about 8 inches of water to ruin his place. "It looked like a river in front of my house," he said as he took a break from ripping up carpeting and flooring. Hundreds of thousands of customers lacked power across the region, more than 300,000 in Michigan alone. Gov. Mitch Daniels said many of the flood victims told him how quickly floodwaters rose, catching them off guard. "This thing came on fast with such a radical deluge of water that people were describing going from a feeling of security to waist-deep water in a matter or 15 or 20 minutes," he said Sunday. The rising White River also forced officials in the southern city of Seymour to order the evacuation of more than 100 homes. Daniels said that there had been some looting reported in the city but that extra police had been sent to prevent it from happening again. In western Indiana, Terre Haute also was dealing with serious flooding. A Johnson County dam was breached by the high water but had not failed, Erickson said. "It's in bad shape," Erickson said. Residents of Chicago's northern and southern suburbs spent Sunday cleaning up from at least seven tornadoes the night before. The storms tore roofs off homes, toppled power lines and overturned tractor-trailers. Several minor injuries were reported, and stretches of Interstate 57 remained closed for a second day Sunday because of downed power lines. |
