Fay weakens but still rages on

Gulf Coast braces for rain, flooding

A sign warned of flooding from Tropical Storm Fay yesterday on a street in St. George Island, Fla. The tropical storm made a record fourth landfall, hitting the Panhandle. (Phil Coale/Associated Press)

APALACHICOLA, Fla. - Tropical Storm Fay was downgraded to a tropical depression last night, but cities along the Gulf Coast were still bracing for heavy rain.

As a tropical storm, Fay set a record with four landfalls in Florida and was blamed for at least 11 deaths there and another in Georgia, emergency officials said.

Though the storm weakened as it traveled inland yesterday, with maximum sustained winds of about 35 miles per hour, cities from Pensacola to New Orleans were still preparing for possible flooding. Forecasters said areas from the Florida panhandle to eastern Louisiana could get 6 to 12 inches of rain before the storm was over. Isolated tornadoes were also possible.

"People automatically assume that if it weakens, the hazards go down with it, but in the case of rainfall, it's not a function of wind speed," said Jamie Rhome of the National Hurricane Center. "Slow moving systems dump a lot of rainfall."

The forecast indicates the depression could slow in the next few days and possibly stall tomorrow over southern Mississippi or eastern Louisiana, Rhome said. It was expected to bring heavy rain to southern Alabama and Mississippi today.

The US Coast Guard in Mobile, Ala., closed numerous ports and waterways between Panama City in Florida and the Alabama coast to the east.

In Alabama, officials opened shelters in the coastal counties of Mobile and Baldwin for people in low-lying areas. Trucks capable of rescuing people from flood waters were also in place, said Yasamie Richardson, spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

In the New Orleans area, which is approaching the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, forecasts called for several inches of rain on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. In St. Bernard Parish, site of some of the worst post-Katrina flooding, emergency officials were handing out sandbags yesterday.

Sandbags were also distributed in Ocean Springs, Gulfport, and Biloxi on the Mississippi coast. The Air Force Reserve's 403d Wing evacuated aircraft yesterday from Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi to locations in South Florida and Texas. The 403d includes planes known as "hurricane hunters" that officials said would be available to continue to monitor Fay.

Thousands of homes and businesses in Florida were inundated with flood waters last week as the storm worked its way north from its first landfall in the Florida Keys and zigzagged across the peninsula.

Fay's center made its fourth landfall early yesterday about 15 miles north-northeast of Apalachicola, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Rains and strong wind gusts blitzed Tallahassee for more than 24 hours, knocking down trees and power lines and cutting electricity to more than 12,000 customers, city officials said.

In southwest Georgia, officials said a boy drowned yesterday while playing in a drainage ditch swollen by 10 to 12 inches of rain.

His death, along with the 11 deaths in Florida, bring the toll from Fay to at least 35. A total of 23 died in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from flooding.

Fay's wake caused widespread flooding along Florida's east coast, especially in Jacksonville near the storm's third landfall.

The Office of Insurance Regulation reported yesterday that roughly 6,700 homeowners filed claims, although only some were because of flooding.

Governor Charlie Crist has asked the federal government to declare the worst-hit areas major disaster areas.