Lee Soaks The Southeast...

Tropical Storm Lee slammed New Orleans with more than a foot of rain and spawned tornadoes as far inland as Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend, maintaining a snail’s pace that threatened to cause severe flooding across much of the southeastern United States.

Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi coastal areas reporting wind and flood damage, but the good news was that the New Orleans levees appeared to hold, something they failed to do six years ago when Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast.

By Monday, more than 14 inches of rain had fallen in the Big Easy, but pumps and drainage systems did their job well, refusing to allow the elements to get a foot hold and cause any serious damage.  Forecasters agreed that the chance for severe flooding would become more serious as the remnants of Lee moved slowly inland. 

It was Lee’s snail pace that made cause for concern.  The longer the storm lingered over a given area, the more rain could be dumped, with undesirable consequences.  Forecasters predicted results similar to what was seen in Vermont following the arrival of Hurricane Irene more than a week ago.

As of Monday night, three deaths had been attributed to Lee, including a body boarder off the Texas coast who died when he was pulled out to sea in a heavy surf that had been churned up by the storm. 

As many as 200,000 lost power across Alabama as the storm moved through, with most of the outages in the 

Birmingham area, Alabama Power spokeswoman Keisa Sharpe said. By early Tuesday, the number of outages was down to 187,000, she said. Power outages were also reported in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Chainsaws and tarps were brought out in Georgia to repair the damage caused be severe rains and tornadoes that occurred over the holiday weekend.   The Georgia Emergency Management Agency said about 100 homes were damaged there in Cherokee County, about 30 miles north of Atlanta.

In Alabama, the State Fair in Huntsville was a washout, with workers disassembling rides as early as 4PM instead of the usual 8PM closing time. 

Rain is expected to be a factor across the southeast through the weekend, as Lee finishes blowing itself out.  Residents should still be on the lookout for flood waters and other damage related to the storm.

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