Indiana, Kentucky hit hard by storms

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More stormy weather was forecast Sunday after two days of high winds, heavy rain and tornadoes were blamed for at least nine deaths in the Midwest and the South.\nFlood warnings were in effect for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, and severe weather was possible along the Eastern Seaboard, forecasters said.\nStorms Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.\nThe death toll in Kentucky reached eight, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. In Arkansas, a woman whose boat was struck by lightning died and authorities were searching for two missing people.\nAuthorities urged people to stay off the roads. \n"We have a lot of people driving past the high water signs, and they are getting stuck," Kentucky State Police dispatcher John Reynolds said.\nThe National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Portions of Interstate 64 just east of Louisville were closed in both directions because of standing water. The storms left thousands of Kentuckians without power.\nIn Evansville, Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Director Sherman Greer said his agency had given away about 550 sandbags in 90 minutes Saturday, many of them to residents of Evansville's southeast side who were dealing with flooding for the second time in two weeks.\n"These people are going through round two right now," Greer said. "Just about the time they got their carpet dried out ... they're going through it again."\nThe rain dampened a music and arts festival in central Kentucky as waters rose to at least 6 feet in some areas, forcing the evacuation of about 200 people at the farmstead just north of Harrodsburg in Mercer County.