After causing devastation along the Gulf Coast, the remains of Hurricane Ivan soaked the South and extended its trail of destruction to the Carolinas.

The number of American deaths from the storm has risen to 38 -- and could go higher. It's the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States in five years.

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Ivan killed at least 70 in the Caribbean before slamming into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Thursday morning, causing grief all the way from Florida to Louisiana. More than 1.8 million homes and businesses are now without power.

Recovery from Ivan has been complicated by widespread power outages, washed-out roads and bridges, and ongoing gas shortages. In some areas, emergency workers had to be flown in by helicopters. Authorities say it could take weeks to restore water, power and sewer services in parts of the hard-hit Florida Panhandle.

Flash flood warnings are in effect for portions of southern Ohio and northeastern Kentucky. Flood watches are in effect for a wide area that includes the entire Appalachian chain and parts of 14 states.

With winds of about 20 mph, Ivan is expected to continue moving in an east-northeasterly direction at about 18 mph. The storm is also expected to drop as much as 6 inches of rain on areas surrounding the Appalachian Mountains through Saturday morning.

President George W. Bush will travel Sunday to the Gulf region to provide "comfort" to people whose "lives have been turned upside down by the hurricane that hit the coast so hard."

Bush plans to survey the damage in Florida and Alabama. He also promised North Carolinians who are affected by the storm that the government will be there to help them out, too.

Bush signed disaster declarations Thursday for Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, and was awaiting paperwork from Florida.

Waters are starting to recede in parts of Tennessee hit hardest by Ivan. Officials report areas under 6 feet of water in rural eastern Tennessee. The National Weather Service says more than 6 inches of rain have fallen in that region since Thursday. A police officer in Spring City, Tenn., said it's a "complete disaster area," with homes washed into lakes or otherwise destroyed.

The storm has sent trees crashing into homes in western North Carolina, where Ivan dumped as many as 8 inches of rain on some parts of the state.

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Damage from Hurricane Ivan is put at anywhere from $3 billion to $10 billion. Hurricanes Charley and Frances had combined estimated insured damages between about $11 billion and $13 billion.

Most of those killed from the storm were in Florida, where the storm dished out its roughest punishment. On Thursday, at least a dozen tornadoes joined the rain, wind and storm surge of 10 to 16 feet, topped by large battering waves.

A federal emergency official said nearly the entire state is a disaster area. There's damage to nearly every coastal bridge in western Florida.

Federal emergency officials fear that search and rescue workers may have to use aircraft to get to hard-hit areas in Florida's Panhandle, where a sheriff said the storm was like a wall of water hit houses and spit out all the stuff inside.

State officials say about 430,000 homes and businesses in northwest Florida are still without power. A county official said it could take weeks for power, water and sewer service to be restored to everyone in the Pensacola area.

Florida has taken hits from three powerful hurricanes so far this season. A sign in the Panhandle reads: "One Charley, Two Frances, Three Ivan, Four Sale."

The storm's northward track spared New Orleans a direct hit. Parts of the city -- particularly vulnerable because much of it is below sea level -- saw only sporadic, light rain Wednesday night, though wind gusts reached tropical storm strength.

The city suffered some downed tree limbs that knocked out power to 30,000 homes and businesses. But other than that, New Orleans was pretty much unscathed.

Fears of strong winds and massive flooding drove thousands of residents out. But in the end, officials said the city got only two-tenths of an inch of rain.

The city has been fortunate to have missed some other big storms in the past, including one in 1998 and Hurricane Lily two years ago.

Weakened Jeanne Drenches Dominican Republic

After leaving thousands of residents of the Dominican Republic clinging to the rooftops of their flooded homes, Jeanne has been downgraded to a tropical depression. But forecasters expect the storm to strengthen somewhat as it moves over water.

The storm hit the island Thursday as a hurricane but weakened as it slowly moved across.

Jeanne hovered over the country's north coast for some 10 hours Thursday night, pounding the area with horizontal sheets of rain, tearing down roofs and power lines and toppling concrete walls.

From there, they say, it could hit the United States anywhere from Florida to South Carolina. Read More On Jeanne, Karl.