00:01:45
ITN
US floods leave trail of destruction
US floods leave trail of destruction
At least ten people have died and dozens left homeless after heavy storms swept across the US Midwest.Floodwaters washed away houses and threatened dams in the state of Wisconsin where Governor Jim Doyle has declared an emergency for 30 counties.He said: "Because this storm was so consistent as it moved, it just kept dumping water all the way across as it moved."Local authorities said an embankment that formed the side of the man-made Lake Delton failed and the water poured out into the nearby Wisconsin River.The 245-acre lake nearly emptied and at least five houses were swept away in the deluge.People have been told to evacuate the area, which is about 50 miles north of Madison, the county emergency management director said.Thousands of others in Columbia County have also been urged to evacuate below the Wyocena and Pardeeville dams.In Indiana, troops have joined desperate sandbagging operations as flooding eclipsed levels set in the deluge of March 1913, which had been considered the state's worst flood of modern times.Residents of Columbus, Indiana, have been trying to salvage whatever belongings they can from the flood damaged debris.US President George W Bush has declared a major disaster in 29 Indiana counties, while Iowa's Governor said nearly a third of his state's 99 counties needed federal help.
ITN | June 10, 2008
