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US Midwest Assesses Damage After Storms Kill at Least 7 in Minnesota


The midwest United States has begun to assess damage of rain storms that have left in their wake mud, floodwaters and at least seven deaths.

The American Red Cross announced Wednesday that damages in the southeastern part of the state of Minnesota are expected to surpass $6 million, the mark required to declare a state a federal disaster area.

In Minnesota for a Republican fundraiser, President Bush told local residents on Tuesday that they could expect a "flood of relief."

The body of the seventh Minnesota storm fatality was discovered Tuesday tangled in the branches of a tree four miles from the man's car.

The American Red Cross has set up shelters to assist to storm victims.

As communities in Minnesota and the neighboring state of Wisconsin dealt with contaminated drinking water and interrupted communications on Wednesday, the storm system moved eastward to the state of Ohio.

No deaths were reported in Wisconsin but residents of several of that state's communities were evacuated. Flood waters still cover much of the community of Gays Mills, Wisconsin.

Earlier this week, remnants of Tropical Storm Erin dumped heavy rain in the south-central state of Oklahoma, triggering floods that killed six people.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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