SAUCIER, Miss. (AP) - Parts of the Gulf Coast continue to wallow in the misery of slow-moving Tropical Storm Lee, which has dumped more than a foot of rain in New Orleans and spun off tornadoes elsewhere.
Areas of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi near the coast report scattered wind damage and flooding. But evacuations appear to be in the hundreds rather than the thousands. And New Orleans' levees are doing their job just over six years after Hurricane Katrina swamped the city.
Lee is expected to weaken to a tropical depression by midnight Sunday with winds of about 30 mph. Forecasters say it could cross into southeast Mississippi on Monday, passing near the city of Hattiesburg and south of Meridian.
The National Hurricane Center says Lee's flash flood threat could be more severe as the rain moves from the flatter Gulf region into the rugged Appalachians.
No deaths have been directly attributed to Tropical Storm Lee, though a body boarder in Galveston, Texas, drowned after being pulled out to sea in heavy surf churned up by Lee.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
