Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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Losing it's devastating punch as a major hurricane,
Ike nevertheless drubbed the Midwest with powerful winds and
floodwaters that are being blamed for at least 15 deaths.

More than a million homes and businesses lost electrical power
on Sunday and thousands of people were forced to evacuate their
homes. Authorities were to continue on Monday to assess damage and
map recovery.

The death toll from Ike rose to 30 people in eight states
extending from the hurricane-pounded Gulf Coast to the
storm-battered Midwest.

Illinois officials said they planned to ask Gov. Rod Blagojevich
to issue a disaster declaration for both the city of Chicago and
Cook County, a move that would make additional funds available to
deal with flood-related costs.

Cook County was placed under a state of emergency as thigh-high
water prompted dozens of boat rescues in Chicago.

No deaths were reported Sunday in Illinois, but elsewhere in the
Midwest the remnants of Ike proved deadly.

Six people died in floodwaters and high winds in Indiana, the
state's Department of Homeland Security said Monday. Among them
were a teacher and his father, who were sucked into a culvert and
drowned Sunday morning while trying to rescue a 10-year-old boy
from a flooded ditch in Chesterton in northwest Indiana, the state
officials said. Falling trees were blamed for three deaths in
southern Indiana. Another death in the southern part of the state
was wind-related, officials said.

"We've never had flooding like this," said Tom DeGiulio, town
manager in Munster, Ind. About 40 Indiana National Guard troops
were activated Sunday to assist with the evacuation of up to 5,000
residents there.

Three people died in Missouri, including a 21-year-old woman who
was likely swept away by rising floodwaters while trying to help
another man, authorities said. Two died in the St. Louis area - a
woman struck by a tree limb and an elderly man found dead in a
home's flooded backyard. Authorities suspect the man drowned.

Strongs winds were blamed for three deaths in Ohio. Two
motorcyclists were killed when a tree toppled onto them at a state
park in southwest Ohio, said state Department of Natural Resources
spokesman Jason Fallon, and a woman was killed when a tree crashed
into her home in Hamilton County, just north of Cincinnati.

In Tennessee, two men sitting in a golf cart on the 16th hole of
a Nashville golf course were killed when a tree fell over on them
Sunday morning, fire department spokesman Ricky Taylor said.

One death was reported in Arkansas, where a 29-year-old man was
killed when a tree fell on a mobile home as he was preparing to
leave, authorities said.

The remnants of Ike dumped as much as 6 to 8 inches of rain in
parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, spawned a tornado in Arkansas
that damaged several buildings, and delivered hurricane-force winds
to Ohio, forcing Cincinnati's main airport to temporarily shut
down. Flooding in Missouri closed the street in front of St. Louis'
famed Gateway Arch.

Power outages darkened more than a million homes and businesses
in Ohio and Kentucky.

More than 680,000 Duke Energy customers were without power
Sunday night in southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky in the biggest
outage in the company's history, said Duke Energy spokeswoman Kathy
Meinke.

"It's going to be quite extensive," Meinke said. "Over 90
percent of our customers are without service."

More than 354,000 customers were without power in central Ohio,
said American Electric Power spokesman Jeff Rennie. About 310,000
Ohio Edison customers were in the dark in northeast Ohio, said
spokeswoman Robin Patton.

In Chicago, Saturday's rainfall of 6.64 inches at O'Hare
International Airport set a record for a single day. The previous
record was 6.49 inches, recorded on Aug. 14, 1987.

In Missouri, winds as high as 60 mph and torrential rains of up
to 7 inches raised new concerns about swelling rivers. Major
flooding was expected along the Mississippi from Ste. Genevieve to
Cape Girardeau by late this week, the National Weather Service
said.

Strong winds prompted the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport to evacuate its control tower and cancel
about 40 flights before resuming air traffic, airport spokesman Ted
Bushelman said.

Strong gusts ripped off part of the roof from a Delta Airlines
hangar and damaged another airport building, Bushelman said. He
said winds were up to 74 mph.

Associated Press reporters Tom Coyne in Indiana and Meghan Barr
in Ohio contributed to this report.

Gallery

Losing it's devastating punch as a major hurricane,
Ike nevertheless drubbed the Midwest with powerful winds and
floodwaters that are being blamed for at least 15 deaths.


Remnants of Ike blamed for 15 deaths in Midwest

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