CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Flooding on the Ohio River damaged hundreds of homes and businesses Friday, a soggy calling card left by the winter storm that had brought miserable conditions across much of the central and northeastern United States.

Schools were closed in river towns in both West Virginia and Ohio, and the historic National Road was underwater in Wheeling, where the Ohio crested Friday at 6 feet above flood stage. Flood levels were expected to remain until Saturday afternoon.

The flooding came as temperatures warmed after a deadly storm crossed from the Plains into New England this week. About 250,000 customers were still in the dark Friday in Indiana, Ohio and Kansas.

In the West, meanwhile, a new storm brought heavy snow Friday to parts of California and northern Nevada. Even Las Vegas, at Nevada’s southern tip, got a rare snowfall on the famed Strip, with some parts of the gambling mecca reporting up to 2 inches.

The storm closed major mountain roads, lashed the central California coast with waves that killed a boater, and dumped more rain on saturated slopes. An avalanche advisory was issued for portions of the eastern Sierra Nevada.

The storm was the first of three expected through the weekend. Downtown Los Angeles could get up to 5 inches of rain by Monday night, with 10 inches to 15 inches in the mountains, forecasters said.

Flash flood warnings were issued for some areas that were burned bare in the fall 2003 wildfires.

Residents of communities below the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles waited to see if they should evacuate. A storm last week unleashed heavy debris flows in the area.

In Marietta, Ohio – across the Ohio River and about 70 miles downstream from Wheeling – shopkeepers stacked sandbags in front of their doors and moved goods off the floors before an expected high-water mark arrived overnight.

“It’s not a ghost town, but there are no businesses open that I’m aware of,” emergency official Mike Cullums said.

Damage appeared heavy on Wheeling Island, home to 1,000 homes and businesses and a stadium, county emergency officials said. A few hundred homes also had water damage in New Cumberland, emergency officials said.

Since that storm began its eastward trek, messy roads have been blamed in at least 17 traffic deaths, including nine in Oklahoma, and at least three people died in Michigan while shoveling snow.

In Nebraska, the body of Michael Wamsley was found Thursday, and authorities Friday continued searching for his girlfriend, Janelle Hornickel.

The couple, both 20, had become lost in a snowstorm earlier in the week.

Off the California coast, one person died and a second was rescued after a 34-foot sailboat was caught in heavy seas and high winds 11 miles southwest of the central coast town of Cambria.

“They were beset by weather with their rigging fouled,” said Coast Guard Lt. Tony Migliorini.

Rain also shorted power circuits and sent trees crashing onto lines around the state.

Power was interrupted for a time to more than 79,500 customers of Pacific Gas & Electric, which covers a huge area from Bakersfield in central California north to the Oregon border.

Southern California Edison reported 24,000 customers with outages.

—

On the Net:

National Weather Service: http://www.nws.noaa.gov

Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com

AccuWeather: http://www.accuweather.com

AP-ES-01-07-05 2322EST

Copy the Story Link