hit regions after declaring a state of emergency on Sunday and dispatching 500 National Guard troops to flooded districts in the southwest of the state. Flights were delayed at airports across the region on Friday. New York's LaGuardia and New Jersey's Newark International Airport were experiencing delays of up to 2-1/2 hours on incoming flights, according to a Federal Aviation Administration Web site. Delays at Boston's Logan Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport were about 30 minutes on inbound traffic. Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney has said some of the state's $25 million in aid earmarked for Hurricane Katrina victims could be used to repair local damage. Romney, considering a bid for the White House in 2008, has faced criticism that he responded slowly to flood damage in his state. "The next 24 hours are going to be the most crucial on this. The question will be whether we can escape this with just a minimal amount of rain or end up seeing some additional flooding," said Peter Judge, spokesman at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
