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Tropical Storm not done yet, threatens Gulf cities
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-24 11:40 APALACHICOLA, Florida -- Fay just won't quit. The tropical storm system that set a record with four landfalls in Florida chugged westward across the Gulf Coast on Saturday and cities from Pensacola to New Orleans prepared for inches of rain.
Proving that a slow-moving tropical storm can be as deadly and damaging as a hurricane, the storm killed at least 11 people in Florida, emergency officials said. Thousands of homes and businesses were inundated with flood waters this 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 around 1 am EDT Saturday about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north-northeast of Apalachicola, along the Panhandle, a stretch of land on the Gulf Coast bordering Georgia and Alabama to the north, according to the National Hurricane Center. While the landfall was mostly uneventful in that area, bands of heavy rain and high winds comprising the eastern half of the storm pelted inland areas. Rains and strong wind gusts blitzed Tallahassee, the state capital, for more than 24 hours, knocking down trees and power lines and cutting electricity to more than 12,000 customers, city officials said. In southern Georgia, Fay's winds toppled trees and utility poles and ripped small pieces off some homes near the Florida border. Snapped power lines left about 6,100 Georgia homes and businesses without electricity Friday afternoon, Georgia Power spokeswoman Lynn Wallace said. |
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