HURRICANE SEASON 2008

Massive floods as Tropical Storm Fay holds still over Florida

Thu Aug 21, 2008
5:43 PM ET

MIAMI8 (AFP) - Tropical Storm Fay began a second slow slog across mainland Florida Thursday, as President George W. Bush declared an emergency in the waterlogged, wind-battered state.

"The president today declared an emergency exists in the state of Florida and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts, due to the emergency conditions resulting from Tropical Storm Fay," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

Holding stationary over the northeastern part of Florida for hours, Fay dumped rains of 50 to 75 centimeters (20 to 30 inches) in some parts of the state, and caused widespread flooding.

"This storm is turning into a serious catastrophic flooding event, particularly in southern Brevard County," Crist said on Wednesday as he sought the emergency declaration giving Florida access to US federal disaster assistance funds.

As of 5 pm (2100 GMT), Fay's center was just west of the location where it made landfall two and a half hours earlier, at Flagler Beach, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Cape Canaveral, where the US space agency NASA has a launch pad.

"Fay is moving toward the west near five miles per hour (seven kilometers per hour.) This general slow motion should continue for the next couple of days," the National Hurricane Center said in its latest bulletin.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of near 95 kilometers (60 miles) an hour with higher gusts, though it was expected to weaken as it moves west toward Florida's Gulf Coast panhandle by early Saturday.

Tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 150 miles (240 kilometers), mainly to the east of the storm's center, the NHC said.

The storm is expected to produce rainfall accumulations of five to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) with isolated amounts of 15 inches (38 centimeters) possible across northern Florida, the center said.

Since it powered up from the Caribbean just short of hurricane strength last weekend, Fay has crisscrossed the southeastern US state, first blasting the tourist-heavy Keys, then plowing up the west coast before making landfall Tuesday and crossing very slowly to the northeast.

The storm has spawned tornadoes, flooded some 50,000 homes and knocked out power to 100,000 people.

Earlier in the Caribbean, Fay left a trail of destruction and at least 40 deaths -- particularly in Haiti, where a truck carrying around 60 passengers plunged into a swollen river during the storm.