Roads were closed and power lines downed in Florida yesterday, but residents were nonetheless relieved that Tropical Storm Barry failed to reach hurricane proportions. Winds reached 70 m.p.h. and streets were flooded in Tallahassee, but the worst was avoided.
The storm moved across the Florida Panhandle and into Alabama, rapidly weakening as it lashed the Gulf Coast with heavy rain and wind that knocked out power and blocked roads with fallen trees.
"The main thing we're concerned with now is the flooding," said Ms Trisha Wallace, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.
Barry's wind speed dropped from near 70 m.p.h to 40 m.p.h, close to the minimum for a tropical storm, and it was expected to continue weakening now that it was over land.
In Florida, some 14 inches of rain fell within 48 hours. No major damage was reported in Alabama as the core of the storm blew into the state, but residents were warned of the possibility of flooding and tornadoes.
"We're hoping this system will keep moving," said Mr Scott Adcock, a spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. He said fallen tree branches had closed many roads on the Florida state line.
The storm blacked out more than 37,000 of Gulf Power Company's 182,000 Florida customers as falling trees downed feeder lines, but restoration work was well under way before daybreak, said a spokesman, Mr John Hutchinson.
Tornado and flood watches were in effect for parts of south-eastern Alabama, south-western and south-central Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, the National Weather Service said.
The storm briefly had hurricane characteristics before the eye crossed over land between Laguna Beach and Destin shortly after midnight, but not enough to be upgraded to hurricane status.
Barry is the second named storm of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. The last serious storm to hit the region was in 1998.
Eight panhandle counties had advised residents to evacuate and Franklin County ordered evacuation of three islands. Six counties opened shelters, but most remained on standby.
Air Force officials said about 40 of its C-130 cargo aircraft and about 300 personnel from Hurlburt Field near Fort Walton Beach had been sent to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas to get them out of the storm's expected path. All flights were cancelled at Pensacola Regional Airport.
AFP adds: Tropical Storm Barry continued to weaken yesterday morning and was reclassified as a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Centre said.
Remnants of the storm were expected to bring from 6 to 8 inches of rain in Alabama, northern Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.
At 11 a.m., Barry was over southern Alabama, moving north-northeast at 15 m.p.h. Damage appeared to be light.