Midwestern flood waters recede, more storms due

John Langenderfer, right, and his father, Dave, discuss their options for pumping water from John's house on Thursday as flood waters from the Blanchard River started to recede after heavy rains caused flooding in Findlay, Ohio. PHOTO: EPA

Water the worst flood in nearly a century in this northwest Ohio city began receding, as it did elsewhere in the Midwest, allowing some of the more than 1,000 homeowners who had been displaced to get a look at their soaked possessions.

With the flooding and more storms moving through, the death toll across the upper Midwest and from the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin that swept Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri over the past week also rose to at least 26.

In one Ohio county alone, the tally of damaged homes was more than 700.

The weather was not through with the region, however, as funnel clouds were spotted in the suburbs west of Chicago and storms lashed Iowa and Minnesota.

At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, about 500 flights were canceled Thursday evening and others delayed for more than two-and-a-half hours, Chicago Aviation Commissioner Nuria Fernandez said.

Storms and soaked northern and west-central Illinois, splitting trees and damaging buildings and adding to the rising water in several rivers, which crews rushed to sandbag.

A roof collapsed at the dock area of an industrial building in the suburbs, injuring 40 people but none seriously, police said.

In southwestern Wisconsin, the National Guard pumped water to relieve pressure on at least one dam, said Mike Goetzman, a spokesman for Wisconsin Emergency Management. The earthen dam suffered erosion earlier this week when water from weekend thunderstorms overflowed it.

Firefighters Wheatland, Wisconsin, had a hard time putting out a house fire because the building was surrounded by flood water, authorities said. They had to take small boats out with pumps and draft from the surrounding water. No one was injured.

In Oklahoma City, divers pulled the body of a 17-year-old runner from a swollen lake a day after he was caught in a current while trying to cross a flooded trail.

In Findlay, Ohio, a city of 40,000, hundreds of residents were making their way home a day after firefighters and volunteers in boats and canoes navigated waist-deep water to rescue people and pets.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has declared nine counties to be in a state of emergency.