A 23-year-old woman from Fort Payne also died on Saturday after her car went off the road into a rain-swollen creek, a DeKalb County deputy coroner told WHNT-TV. In a separate incident, a 24-year-old man and a 3-year-old boy were killed outside of Tuscaloosa when a tree fell on their house. The Associated Press reported that a 15-vehicle crash just south of Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday left 10 people dead, including nine children. Some areas experienced over a foot of rain as the storm pummeled the region Saturday. "Additional re-strengthening is forecast on Monday and Monday night while the cyclone moves over the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream."Ĭlaudette originated in the Gulf of Mexico last week before making landfall Saturday.
"As the large circulation of Claudette moves off of the southeastern United States coast later today and tonight, winds will increase along and offshore of the coast, and the system is expected to regain tropical-storm status by Monday morning," the NHC said. Storm surge levels could reach as high as 3 feet as winds force the water away from the storm. Rising water levels present a larger threat.
The storm is expected to bring as much as 6 inches of rain to parts of the Southeast. The National Hurricane Center is advising residents in southern Georgia, northern Florida and the Carolinas to prepare for torrential rain and flooding -and possibly tornadoes - through Monday morning.