IVAN FLOODING Dry days are ahead for cleanup

President Bush declared Trumbull and Columbiana counties disaster areas.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cities and towns along the Ohio River coping with flooding all weekend got good news on Sunday: No rain is in sight, and the Ohio had crested in some upriver communities.
Downtown Marietta remained flooded as the rising river took people by surprise, said Mike Cullums, spokesman for the Washington County Emergency Management Agency. It apparently crested Sunday morning, about 9 feet above flood stage of 34 feet, he said.
No deaths or injuries were reported as a direct result of flooding, although a Toronto, Ohio, man died Saturday after his car hydroplaned and hit a guardrail on Ohio 7 in Steubenville.
President Bush declared disasters Sunday in 15 counties hit by flooding over the past two weeks.
Who's affected
The president's declaration makes federal funding available to people in the counties of Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Stark, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Washington.
Residents can apply for federal assistance including grants for temporary housing and home repairs and loans to cover uninsured property losses.
About 1,700 people remained out of their homes in eastern Ohio, including the village of Powhatan Point in Belmont County, which was evacuated Sunday as the Ohio was expected to crest about 8 feet above flood stage, the National Weather Service said.
The Ohio Department of Transportation closed parts or all of 80 roads and highways because of flooding and mudslides, said Julie Hinds, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency.
In Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, Bush declared disasters in 19 counties. They are Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Centre, Clearfield, Cumberland, Dauphin, Indiana, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Northampton, Perry, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Washington, Westmoreland and Wyoming.
In the Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie, residents and business owners have begun to clean up from the weekend's flooding. It was an overwhelming task for many, who say they have lost more than just furniture and carpeting.
"It's just so sad because for my family, this is historic," said Kristen Barber, whose family has owned the J.H. Ferri & amp; Co. monument business in this 1.7-square mile town since 1926.
The storm that was once Hurricane Ivan was long gone by Sunday, but it left rivers and small streams swollen beyond their banks and forced new evacuations in five states.
The Delaware River flooded parts of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, prompting thousands to flee, and the Ohio River inundated parts of towns in West Virginia and Ohio.
Portions of northeastern Pennsylvania and far northwestern New Jersey were soaked with between 5 and 8 inches of rain in less than 24 hours Saturday, and that water rushed downstream Sunday, forecasters said.
Along the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvanians watched the swift-moving current drain past them with a mixture of dread and awe, and Maryland residents were warned a deluge was coming.
The Delaware River crested around 23 1/2 feet in Trenton, N.J., on Sunday night, well above the flood stage of 20 feet, and the Susquehanna was nearly 8 feet above flood stage Sunday at Bloomsburg, Pa., the National Weather Service said.
Evacuation in Harrisburg
In Harrisburg, the mayor's office reported more than 2,000 residents subject to evacuation, and the deluge closed streets and unmoored pleasure boats from docks. In the Wilkes-Barre area, the Susquehanna caused extensive damage.
Conditions in the region were expected to slowly improve on Monday and no more rain was expected for the next few days.
Hurricane Ivan and its remnants have been blamed for at least 52 deaths in the United States and 70 deaths in the Caribbean. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were still without electricity Sunday, most of them in Florida and Alabama.
Officials estimated that the flooding has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.