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Ida Nears Upper Gulf Coast with Wind, Heavy Rain - 11-09-2009
GULF SHORES, Alabama (AP) — Residents along the Gulf Coast in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi prepared Monday for the arrival of Tropical Storm Ida, which could bring heavy rains and winds up to 70 mph Tuesday.
There was little visible apprehension among residents of this resort town as they visited City Hall to pick up windshield stickers that will allow them to return to the barrier island after the storm passes by.
Ida started out as the third hurricane of this year's Atlantic season, which ends Dec. 1, but weakened to a tropical storm Monday. It had maximum sustained winds near 70 mph.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was expected to weaken further before making landfall along the Gulf Coast sometime Tuesday morning. Rain had already started falling in many spots by Monday afternoon.
Construction worker John Stewart, 28, came to Gulf Shores' town hall to get two such permits for his and his wife's cars — just in case. He said he's not planning to evacuate before Ida arrives.
Hurricane Ivan in 2004 caused about $25,000 damage to his home. He said he's not worried about this storm. "There's always a concern, but it's just a normal concern," he said. "You can't ever take these for granted, but something like this, it's gong to be minor damage, about like a good long thunderstorm."
Arthur Bourne, Gulf Shore police chief and emergency management director, said town officials asked for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas.
" We went door to door in those areas just asking people to be aware and leave if they wanted to," he said. "If they chose to leave, that's fine. If not, they need to be prepared to ride it out."
Bourne, who has lived here for 52 years, says the most recent November hurricane he remembers is Hurricane Kate in 1985. "It was a little bit stronger than this storm," he said.
Residents in rain-soaked Georgia, meanwhile, were preparing for possible flooding. Most of the northern half of the state is vulnerable to flash flooding because of already swollen streams and saturated soil, Georgia climatologist David Stooksbury said. Georgia and Alabama were plagued with deadly floods in September that killed at least 10 people.
Hurricanes that hit the USA in November are "extremely unusual," says Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He said that since records began in 1851, only five hurricanes have made U.S. landfall in November. The most recent was Hurricane Kate, on Nov. 21, 1985, which hit near Mexico Beach, Fla.
Tropical storms and hurricanes occasionally spin offshore in November, he said. Since records began, 62 tropical storms have formed in November, of which 35 became hurricanes.
Hurricanes usually have a difficult time strengthening in the Gulf in November, Feltgen added. Cooler Gulf waters sap their energy, and strong westerly winds from autumn storms and cold fronts in the USA tend to tear them apart.
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