INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — President Bush declared nearly a third of Indiana's counties disaster areas amid record flooding while Marines and National Guard troops piled sandbags in a desperate attempt to protect the southern Indiana community of Elnora Monday.

The flooding killed at least two people, including a boater missing since Saturday. The body of Mark Stroud, 44, of Coatsville, was recovered in Mill Creek Monday about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis, said Phil Bloom, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

The destruction in much of the southern half of the state led Bush to order federal aid to supplement state and local funds to 29 counties. As much as 11 inches of rain swamped the state over the weekend, flooding homes, threatening dams and closing several roads and highways. Floodwaters pushed farther south across Indiana on Monday, and the state prepared for more rain.

The National Weather Service said a new storm system could drop from 1 to 3 inches of rain on the state late Monday.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, meanwhile, rescued six campers — including three young children — who had been stranded about 40 miles southwest of Indianapolis. An earlier rescue attempt by state conservation officers was called off because of rugged terrain.

The helicopter was unable to land Sunday night, but its crew hauled the trapped campers to safety in a rescue basket — four in the first lift and then the other two, said John Erickson, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

He said the campers — three adults, an infant and two children — were on a weekend trip in the Owen-Putnam State Forest when they were trapped by the flash flooding and mudslides. It took crews the whole day to reach them after the first call, he said.

"They were running out of food and water and asked to be rescued," Erickson said.

They were taken to a shelter at Spencer Elementary School. The Coast Guard from the Great Lakes district is one of several agencies helping residents deal with flooded homes and businesses.

That includes about 200 Indiana National Guard troops and 140 Marines and sailors who joined local emergency agencies in sandbagging a levee of the White River at Elnora, about 100 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The river was forecast to crest Tuesday at nearby Newberry near 29 feet, or 16 feet above flood stage.

Local officials requested help raising nearly a mile of levee as much as 3 feet.

More than 900 Guard troops total were helping.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, who canceled a trade mission to Japan, issued a statement commending the "joint effort between local, state and federal forces."

By Monday morning, eight sites along rivers and streams in central and southern Indiana had eclipsed the flood levels set during the March 1913 deluge considered Indiana's greatest flood in modern times, said Scott Morlock, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Indiana.

Those sites included Newberry, where the river reached 28.04 feet Monday morning, topping the record of 27.50 feet set in the March 1913 flood.

About 750,000 gallons of water per second were flowing by that point in the river. That's about 21,000 bathtubs full of water per second, according to Weirdconverter.com.

"That's just a tremendous amount of water," he said.

Large swaths of three Midwest states were declared disaster areas as days of vicious storms and flooding forced rescuers into boats and residents to flee flooded communities. The death toll stood at nine.

Also, two Indiana Department of Natural Resources workers were rescued after their airboat capsized in the East Fork White River late Sunday near Brownstown. They were pulled from the water early Monday near Seymour.

___

Associated Press Writer Rick Callahan contributed to this report.