Barry Whips Through Florida's Panhandle
The remnants of Tropical Storm Barry doused the Florida Panhandle and Alabama with heavy rains on Monday and threatened to bring floods and tornadoes as it headed inland, forecasters said.Barry was downgraded to a tropical depression with maximum winds of just 30 mph hours after steaming ashore from the Gulf of Mexico with winds just short of hurricane strength near the town of Destin, 60 miles west of Panama City, around 2 a.m. EDT.
The storm whipped up a strong surf, toppled trees across roadways and shredded power lines but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or major flooding. It dumped up to 10 inches of rain on the Panhandle and forecasters warned of possible floods and tornadoes in its wake.
Florida authorities said 34,000 power customers were without electricity in western Florida but roads and telephone service were intact and no fatalities had been reported.
At 11 a.m. the center of Barry was about 25 miles southwest of Selma, Alabama and was moving north-northwest at 15 mph.