Ontario (US): Floodwaters washed away three houses and threatened dams in the midwestern US state of Wisconsin as military crews joined desperate sandbagging operations to stop Indiana streams flooding to record levels.

Meanwhile, the East Coast simmered through temperatures climbing toward 40 Celsius.

Ten deaths were blamed on stormy weekend weather, most in the Midwest. Wisconsin Gov Jim Doyle declared an emergency for 29 counties and President George W Bush late Sunday declared a major disaster in 29 Indiana counties. Iowa Governor Chet Culver said nearly a third of his state s 99 counties need federal help.

Water was pouring over the top of Wisconsin s Dell Creek Dam on Lake Delton in Sauk County, and had swept away three houses, county emergency management director Jeff Jelinek said. He was not sure whether there were any injuries, but said people had been told to evacuate the area, which is about 80 kms north of Madison. Some 200 Indiana National Guard members and 140 Marines and sailors yesterday joined local emergency agencies in sandbagging a levee of the White River at Elnora, about 160 kms southwest of Indianapolis. The White River was forecast to crest today at nearby Newberry at 16 feet above flood stage.

Local officials said they wanted to raise nearly 1.6 kms of levees as much as three feet.

last morning, flooding at eight sites in central and southern Indiana had eclipsed levels set in the deluge of March 1913,which had been considered Indiana s greatest flood in modern times, said Scott Morlock, a hydrologist with the US Geological Survey in Indiana.

Source : PTI