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 - A cyclone with winds up to 120 mph. A low-lying, densely populated delta region, stripped of its protective trees.

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.

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.

Reuters - Severe storms tore through northern Arkansas on Friday, killing at least seven people and injuring 13 in the southern U.S. state.

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.