Weakened Paula lacks punch of deadly storms

HAVANA - A weakening tropical storm Paula dumped heavy rains on Cuba's capital, turning some streets into shallow rivers and knocking out power before sliding along the island's northern coast.

But Paula was behaving far less destructively than three monster hurricanes that devastated Cuba in 2008. Cuban officials discontinued all storm warnings for the island by late Thursday, and the storm weakened to a tropical depression on Friday.

Paula had maximum sustained winds of 55 kph, with some higher gusts, said the United States National Hurricane Center in Miami.