Repeat visitor: Fay bedevils Florida for 5th day

[August 22, 2008]  MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) -- Tropical Storm Fay continued its slow, wet trudge across Florida for a fifth day Friday, prompting communities farther inland and on the state's Gulf coast to brace for what could be drenching rains.

The erratic storm has dumped more than 2 feet of rain along parts of Florida's low-lying central Atlantic coast.

It is just the fourth storm to make landfall in Florida three separate times, and the first in nearly 50 years. Before it crosses the Panhandle by the weekend, it could bring buckets of rain and power outages.

Isolated tornadoes were possible in parts of northeastern Florida, southeastern Georgia and southern South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center said.

In Gainesville, hurricane shelters were open while schools and government buildings were closed . But some people were unimpressed by the storm, including David Phillips, 50, who said he and his 15-year-old son had driven around looking for damage.

"I don't know why schools are closed. It's ridiculous," he said. "We saw a couple limbs down but nothing else."

Daniel Wagner, 18, said he rode his bike through the rain for about half a mile to run errands. He said he wasn't worried about the storm picking up. "If I was, I wouldn't be riding my bike," he said.

Two people drowned in heavy surf Thursday as the storm came ashore in Flagler Beach, nudging Fay's total death toll to 25 after Haiti discovered three more bodies. The drownings were the first U.S. deaths directly caused by the storm.

President Bush issued a federal disaster declaration Thursday for the affected parts of Florida, as hundreds of residents fled floodwaters that drove alligators and snakes out of their habitats and into streets.

Susan and Gary Redwine of Merritt Island, near Cape Canaveral, got sick of sitting inside for three days and decided to hop onto their kayaks for a cruise through the neighborhood.

"It's the only dry way to get around. It's not like you can go jogging or anything," said 49-year-old Gary Redwine.

Emergency officials planned to begin surveying damage along the coast Friday as the floodwaters were expected to slowly recede. In Brevard and St. Lucie Counties, residents welcomed the sight of muddy brown water lines on homes -- signifying the receding of flood waters.

In Duval County, four key bridges spanning the St. John's River were closed through the night because of high winds. That included two downtown bridges and the eight-lane Buckman Bridge connecting Mandarin and Orange Park.

Power outages plagued the area. As of 6:15 a.m. Friday, Jacksonville Electric Authority reported 66,000 customers without power.

At 5 a.m., the storm's center was near Gainesville, about 65 miles east-northeast of Cedar Key and moving west near 6 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Its maximum sustained winds were near 50 mph and it was forecast to gradually weaken.

The storm first made landfall in the Florida Keys earlier this week, then headed out over open water again before hitting a second time near Naples. It then advanced slowly across the state, popped back out into the Atlantic Ocean and struck again.

Flooding was especially acute along Florida's Atlantic coast from Port St. Lucie to Cape Canaveral, with water reaching depths of 5 feet and more in some neighborhoods.

"This is the worst I've absolutely ever seen it," said Mike White, 57, after he was rescued by the National Guard from floodwaters lapping at the doorstep of his mobile home.

In Neptune Beach on Thursday, police said an Indiana tourist drowned after going swimming in a rough ocean churned up by the storm. To the south in Volusia County, authorities said Fatmira Krkuti, 35, of Brooklyn, N.Y., also drowned in Fay-generated waves.

Brevard County officials gave a preliminary damage estimate of $12 million in Melbourne, mostly from flooding, and $2.6 million from beach erosion.

The outer bands of Fay continued to pour sporadic rains Thursday along the 100-mile Georgia coast, with some areas reporting winds of 20 to 30 mph. The National Weather Service said southern Georgia could see some flooding from 5 to 10 inches of rain as the storm moved west through northern Florida.

A tropical storm watch was posted for the Gulf coast of Florida from the Suwannee River to Indian Pass, in case the storm emerges over water again.

[Associated Press; By BRIAN SKOLOFF]

Associated Press writers Ron Word reported from Jacksonville; Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Curt Anderson, David Fischer and Tamara Lush reported from Miami; Bill Kaczor reported from Tallahassee; Russ Bynum reported from Savannah, Ga.; and Brendan Farrington reported from St. Augustine.

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