Times Staff Report

WASHINGTON | President Bush has declared that parts of Indiana -- including Lake County -- are major disaster areas because of the damage from flooding caused by storms Aug. 15 through Aug. 17.

The White House announcement on Friday means federal aid will be available to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas struck.

Federal help can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help people and businesses recover from the disaster.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

The federal government originally denied disaster aid for the August floods. But Gov. Mitch Daniels, a former budget director for Bush, twice appealed, explaining the damage was worse than initially thought.

"Citizens from Lake County continue to call local and state offices seeking assistance," Daniels wrote the president in late October. "There is very little insurance coverage in effect to cover the perils associated with this disaster."

The August storms closed a flooded three-mile stretch of the Borman Expressway for days and forced the evacuation of St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Dyer. State officials said 210 homes sustained major damage, three were destroyed and 323 more incurred minor damage.

The state's preliminary damage assessment lists five deaths linked to the storms -- three cases of carbon monoxide poisoning linked to a power outage in Gary, and two fatalities from a traffic accident on flooded U.S. 30 in Porter County.

Donald Keldsen will be the coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the area. He was named to the post by R. David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA said additional disaster designations may be made later if requested by the state and warranted according to further damage assessments.