conman1000
08-24-2008, 03:37 PM
CNN) -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist warned Sunday that more flooding could be on the way in parts of the state already hard-hit by Tropical Storm Fay, now a tropical depression.
Also Sunday, President Bush declared a "major disaster" area in Florida, making the counties of Brevard, Monroe, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie eligible for federal funds.
Fay, the tropical storm that wouldn't go away, has weakened to a tropical depression, but forecasters warn it could still drop up to a foot of rain along its path over northwest Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Fay was marching west-northwestward at 10 mph Sunday morning, and forecasters warned that the storm could spawn isolated tornadoes Sunday in the Florida Panhandle, western Georgia and Alabama. Watch trapped residents get rescued ยป
Fay, which sprang to life eight days ago over the Dominican Republic, caused flooding and at least 10 deaths in Haiti before sweeping over Cuba, the Florida Keys and onto the Florida peninsula.
The storm spent several days circling the central and upper coast of Florida with heavy rain and severe flooding before beginning its current westward track. iReport.com: Send your videos, photos from the storm
Fay is blamed for 11 Florida deaths.
Another storm-related death was reported in Cairo, Georgia -- about 35 miles north of Tallahassee -- when a teenager playing near a drainage area was swept away in rising waters, the National Weather Service reported.
Fay's disorganized center was about 60 miles east-northeast of Mobile, Alabama, and about 30 miles north-northeast of Pensacola, Florida, the hurricane center advisory said.
Radar measured Fay's top sustained winds at about 35 mph late Saturday, and it is expected to gradually weaken over the next two days, the center said.
"Fay is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches across the extreme western portion of the northern Florida Peninsula, the Florida Panhandle, southwestern Georgia, the southern and central portions of Mississippi and Alabama and eastern Louisiana," the hurricane center said.
It also said some areas could get as much as 20 inches of rain.
While all tropical storm warnings and watches have ended, emergency officials along the Gulf Coast are braced.
In New Orleans, a famously low-lying city, the Army Corps of Engineers said its canal flood-watch teams have been activated as a precaution.
In anticipation of the storm's westward movement, teams will "mobilize to their duty stations 8 a.m. Sunday, and monitor canals and levees in the city," the Corps said in a written statement Saturday.
Col. Alvin Lee, New Orleans District commander, said the actions were "precautionary measures for the safety of the public."
"However, we are prepared to close the gates and run the pumps should the need arise," he said.
The Corps took responsibility after Hurricane Katrina flooded most of New Orleans in 2005 for not having built sufficient levees against flooding.
The National Hurricane Center said isolated areas of eastern Louisiana could have up to 20 inches of rain.
Mobile County, Alabama, opened five shelters and called in swift-water rescue teams in anticipation of flooding, said Steve Huffman, spokesman for the county's emergency management agency.
"The storm is actually weakening. That's not to say we're not going to have rain," Huffman told CNN. "We're still expecting some flooding because of this. We've got everything on standby -- hopefully it won't come to that."
Florida governor to survey damage from Fay - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/24/tropical.storm.fay/index.html)
20 inches!! Dang, glad it isn't coming north.
Also Sunday, President Bush declared a "major disaster" area in Florida, making the counties of Brevard, Monroe, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie eligible for federal funds.
Fay, the tropical storm that wouldn't go away, has weakened to a tropical depression, but forecasters warn it could still drop up to a foot of rain along its path over northwest Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Fay was marching west-northwestward at 10 mph Sunday morning, and forecasters warned that the storm could spawn isolated tornadoes Sunday in the Florida Panhandle, western Georgia and Alabama. Watch trapped residents get rescued ยป
Fay, which sprang to life eight days ago over the Dominican Republic, caused flooding and at least 10 deaths in Haiti before sweeping over Cuba, the Florida Keys and onto the Florida peninsula.
The storm spent several days circling the central and upper coast of Florida with heavy rain and severe flooding before beginning its current westward track. iReport.com: Send your videos, photos from the storm
Fay is blamed for 11 Florida deaths.
Another storm-related death was reported in Cairo, Georgia -- about 35 miles north of Tallahassee -- when a teenager playing near a drainage area was swept away in rising waters, the National Weather Service reported.
Fay's disorganized center was about 60 miles east-northeast of Mobile, Alabama, and about 30 miles north-northeast of Pensacola, Florida, the hurricane center advisory said.
Radar measured Fay's top sustained winds at about 35 mph late Saturday, and it is expected to gradually weaken over the next two days, the center said.
"Fay is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches across the extreme western portion of the northern Florida Peninsula, the Florida Panhandle, southwestern Georgia, the southern and central portions of Mississippi and Alabama and eastern Louisiana," the hurricane center said.
It also said some areas could get as much as 20 inches of rain.
While all tropical storm warnings and watches have ended, emergency officials along the Gulf Coast are braced.
In New Orleans, a famously low-lying city, the Army Corps of Engineers said its canal flood-watch teams have been activated as a precaution.
In anticipation of the storm's westward movement, teams will "mobilize to their duty stations 8 a.m. Sunday, and monitor canals and levees in the city," the Corps said in a written statement Saturday.
Col. Alvin Lee, New Orleans District commander, said the actions were "precautionary measures for the safety of the public."
"However, we are prepared to close the gates and run the pumps should the need arise," he said.
The Corps took responsibility after Hurricane Katrina flooded most of New Orleans in 2005 for not having built sufficient levees against flooding.
The National Hurricane Center said isolated areas of eastern Louisiana could have up to 20 inches of rain.
Mobile County, Alabama, opened five shelters and called in swift-water rescue teams in anticipation of flooding, said Steve Huffman, spokesman for the county's emergency management agency.
"The storm is actually weakening. That's not to say we're not going to have rain," Huffman told CNN. "We're still expecting some flooding because of this. We've got everything on standby -- hopefully it won't come to that."
Florida governor to survey damage from Fay - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/24/tropical.storm.fay/index.html)
20 inches!! Dang, glad it isn't coming north.