O'Bannon makes second flood aid request

A break in the rain allowed Indianapolis to begin recovering from its wettest day since recording-keeping began, but waters rose outside the city as Gov. Frank O'Bannon sought federal flood aid for the second time in less than two months.\nA Labor Day weekend storm drenched the region with as much as 8 inches of rain, producing floodwaters that swept away a driver who was found dead Wednesday by Indianapolis police after floodwaters began to fall.\nThe White River and its tributaries began receding Tuesday in Indianapolis as the flooding risk shifted downstream to the southwest in Morgan and Owen counties.\nO'Bannon declared an emergency covering an unspecified number of counties in central Indiana, a step needed to secure possible federal aid. He said hundreds of homes had been flooded.\nState officials sent 330,000 sandbags to Delaware, Hamilton, Hendricks, Marion and Morgan counties. About 75 Indiana National Guard members were protecting property in Morgan County, said Alden Taylor, a spokesman for the State Emergency Management Agency.\nSome of the biggest problems were in suburban Indianapolis housing developments, where retention ponds spilled over banks.\nMore than 11,000 students in the Hamilton Southeastern district north of the city had a day off Tuesday because of 3-foot-deep water on several suburban streets.