Tropical Storm Ida weakens as it hits US Gulf Coast

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) – Weakened remnants of what was once Hurricane Ida made landfall on the US Gulf coast Tuesday, dumping heavy rain and triggering some flooding but without the deadly winds Ida packed over the weekend.

Ida was a category two hurricane on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale on Sunday, but lost strength as it moved north from the Caribbean -- and by 1500 GMT Tuesday the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said it had become a tropical depression and canceled all storm warnings.

The storm however remains dangerous: it is forecast to dump up to eight inches (20 centimeters) of rain across the southeastern United States, and area officials were preparing for floods and damage caused by the ocean surge.

Ida made landfall as a tropical storm at 1140 GMT on Dauphin Island, Alabama, packing wind gusts of 45 miles per hour (75 kilometers per hour). Fewer than four hours later its winds had decreased to around 35 miles per hour (55 kilometers per hour).

"Ida has lost tropical characteristics and its winds are expected to slowly diminish during the next day or so," the NHC said.

At 1500 GMT the center of Ida was located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Mobile, Alabama, moving toward the northeast at nine miles (15 kilometers) per hour.

Through Wednesday, Ida "is expected to produce total rain accumulations of three to six inches (eight to 15 centimeters)," with some areas receiving up to eight inches (20 centimeters), the NHC warned.

In Louisiana, where memories of the devastating 2005 Hurricane Katrina are still fresh, Governor Bobby Jindal urged residents to be prepared.

"We urge people to take precautions and watch their children," Jindal said in a late Monday press conference.

The US Army Corps of Engineers is "confident" that the vast network of levees, pumps and drainage canals will protect New Orleans from serious flooding, Jindal said.

Officials offered sandbags to residents in flood-prone areas, and announced "voluntary evacuations" for low-lying areas outside the city's levee protection system.

In Alabama, the storm left some 3,000 people without electricity in the Mobile area on Tuesday. Local officials said that flooding was the main concern, as the ground was saturated due to heavy rain in recent weeks.

This year, the Pacific's El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon resulted in an especially calm Atlantic hurricane season -- a welcome respite for Caribbean and southeastern US residents still smarting from a 2008 pounding.

There have only been two other hurricanes in the 2009 Atlantic season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.