AP - A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk.
AP - Cloud cover and rain were expected in the Northeast on Friday. Heavy rain was anticipated across the Mid-Atlantic interior. Flood watches were posted from northern Virginia through Long Island.
AP - Experts picked through debris and damage Thursday to determine whether tornadoes touched down after severe storms moved through the state, toppling trees and knocking out power to thousands of people.
AP - The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bid by Gulf state senators to add wind coverage to a financially strapped federal program that provides flood insurance.
AP - Lingering fears about formaldehyde fumes inside federally issued trailers and the impending hurricane season have Mayor Ray Nagin pushing to empty thousands of the structures, intended as temporary housing after Katrina.
AP - Just before the tornado sirens sounded, school superintendent Floyd Marshall got the warning from police a twister was coming right for the town's elementary and high school.
The Christian Science Monitor - In a rapidly escalating death toll, a cyclone that ripped through Burma (Myanmar) on Saturday killed nearly 4,000 people, not 351 as originally announced, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in Asia since the tsunami of 2004, authorities said on Monday.
AP - Amber Parker watched on television as the storm near her home grew into a tornado threat. Then, when the roaring wind outside suddenly fell silent, she grabbed her two toddlers and rushed to get under the stairwell.
AP - The Army Corps of Engineers can be held liable for flood damage caused by a "hurricane highway," a navigation channel that is believed to have funneled Hurricane Katrina's storm surge into the city, a federal judge ruled Friday.
AP - A river that flooded parts of northern Maine dropped much faster than expected, allowing hundreds of residents who fled their homes to return and assess the damage Friday, officials said.
AFP - At least 19 tornados ripped across four US states Friday leaving seven dead in Arkansas including a teenage girl and flattening homes and businesses, local officials and media said.
AP - The rain-swollen St. John River crested early Thursday after hitting a record high, forcing residents to flee to higher ground as more than 100 homes flooded.
Reuters - A river swollen by heavy rain and
melting snow overflowed its banks along the U.S.-Canadian
border, forcing hundreds of people to flee homes and businesses
in Fort Kent, Maine, and closing two border crossings.
AP - On the eve of Hurricane Katrina, massive pumps that keep water out of this New Orleans suburb went silent when the roughly 100 workers who run them were allowed to flee under a "doomsday" evacuation plan.
Reuters - Three tornadoes swept through
central and southeastern Virginia on Monday, injuring about 200
people and damaging dozens of homes and businesses, officials
said.
Reuters - Republican presidential
candidate John McCain and former rival Mike Huckabee dodged
talk of whether Huckabee could be McCain's vice presidential
running mate as they campaigned together on Friday.
Reuters - Private weather forecaster WSI Corp
said on Tuesday it raised the number of Atlantic hurricanes it
expects this year to eight from seven due to warmer-than-normal
ocean temperatures that will likely encourage storm
development.