In Arkansas, most of the fatalities were caused by trees and heavy branches falling on mobile homes, state emergency management officials said.
In desperation, parents say, they have sent their children to foster homes, state mental hospitals, juvenile jails and other institutions where the children were supposed to receive treatment.
To pursue troubled homes, state health officials will now have to conduct entirely new inspections and, if violations are not quickly corrected, begin the legal process of seeking fines.
An hour into direct examination, Mr. Creane told Mr. Rowland that by offering nursing homes state money to mitigate a strike, he weakened the union's ability to negotiate with the homes.
They included homeless men and women, families who rent but cannot afford to buy homes, state and local officials, and prominent figures like Coretta Scott King, Geraldo Rivera and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Though the rains largely stopped today, and the flood waters slowly receded, the flooding has killed 120 people over the past three days and left a trail of heavily damaged rice paddies, washed-out roads and thousands of heavily damaged homes, state officials said.
