Aug 24, 2008 12:12 pm US/Eastern
President Bush Declares Florida A Disaster Area
WASHINGTON D.C. (CBS4) ―
President Bush has declared Florida a disaster area in wake of Tropical Storm Fay.
Saturday, Fay's winds and torrential rains blasted Tallahassee for nearly a day, knocking down trees and power lines and cutting electricity to more than 12,000 customers. City officials asked residents to reduce their water use on Sunday because the storms heavy rains had caused local ponds and storm water ditches to overflow into the wastewater collection system.
In southern Georgia, Fay's winds ripped small pieces off some homes, toppled trees and damaged utility poles near the Florida border. A southwest Georgia boy drowned Saturday while playing in a rain swollen drainage ditch.
Also Saturday, emergency management officials opened shelters in the coastal counties of Mobile and Baldwin in Alabama for for residents of low-lying areas. In the New Orleans area, which is approaching the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, forecasts called for 1 to 3 inches of rain on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. In St. Bernard Parish, site of some of the worst post-Katrina flooding, emergency officials were handing out sandbags Saturday.
At 10 a.m. Sunday, the center of Tropical Depression Fay was about 25 miles south-southwest of Meridian, Mississippi. Fay, packing sustained winds of 30 mph, was moving to the west at near 10 mph. The forecast track calls for Fay to be over eastern Louisiana or southern Mississippi by Monday.
Flood Warnings remain in effect for southern Alabama, southwestern Georgia, and across the Florida panhandle. Flash Flood Warnings remain in effect for southern Alabama, southwestern Georgia, the Florida panhandle, Mississippi, parts of eastern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Arkansas.
Fay's winds and rains were responsible for 11 deaths in Florida and one in Georgia bringing the storm's death toll to at least 35. A total of 23 died in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from flooding.
Fay's wake caused widespread flooding along Florida's east coast, especially in Jacksonville near the storm's third landfall. More than 67-hundred homeowners have filed claims with the state's Office of Insurance Regulation. Governor Charlie Crist had asked the federal government to declare the worst-hit areas major disaster areas.
The president's declaration means federal funding will be made available for emergency work and repairs in Brevard, Monroe, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties. The money will only pay for expenses incurred by counties dealing with the storm. More counties could be declared later and other aid could be extended to individual homeowners in the affected areas.
Since forming August 15th, Fay has been a rather unusual storm. After passing over the Keys on Monday, it crossed open water and then hit the state a second time near Naples. After making its way across the state, it headed out into the Atlantic Ocean and struck again near Flagler Beach. Fay was the first storm in almost 50 years to make three landfalls in the state as a tropical storm. Its fourth landfall as such was the first in recorded history.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
