Nate downgraded to tropical depression as it drenches coastal U.S. and moves inland

Tropical Depression Nate continued to weaken Sunday after making landfall as a hurricane in Louisiana and Mississippi and drenching coastal Alabama with heavy rain. 

The storm came ashore along a sparsely populated area in southeast Louisiana on Saturday night, then brought flooding and power outages as it sloshed ashore outside Biloxi, Miss., early Sunday with maximum sustained winds near 140 km/h. It was the first hurricane to make landfall in Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Nate then weakened to a tropical storm and by late Sunday morning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center downgraded it to a tropical depression, with maximum sustained winds of 55 km/h. However, strong gusts with tropical storm force could still be expected over the Florida Panhandle, as well as parts of Alabama and Georgia Sunday afternoon, it said. 

Nate's initially powerful winds pushed water onto roads and its winds knocked out power to homes and business. Its rising water flooded homes and cars on Alabama's coast and inundated at least one major thoroughfare in downtown Mobile, Ala.​

Read More (...)