Gordon hits the Gulf Coast as a tropical storm and kills a child in Florida

Tropical storm Gordon swept through Wednesday after sweeping the coast at night, saturating the Gulf Coast but apparently sparing the region a new wave of widespread destruction.

The storm made landfall just west of the border between Alabama and Mississippi, around 10:15 pm. On Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 70 miles per hour.

The sustained winds of the storm should have reached 74 miles per hour to become a Category 1 hurricane, but minor power variations are more academic and historical than indicative of the problems a tropical cyclone can cause.

The authorities are still assessing the effects of Gordon, but have reported the death of a child who was killed when a tree fell Tuesday night on a mobile home in Escambia County, Florida.

The hurricane center warned that the storm, which was degraded to a tropical depression just before sunrise on Wednesday, still posed a threat of heavy rains and floods as it crossed the lower Mississippi Valley.

According to forecasters, the total accumulation of rain could be between four and eight inches along parts of the Gulf Coast, but also inland, including Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa. . On Saturday morning, the hurricane center said some areas may have logged a foot of rain.

With Gordon's remains growing towards the Midwest, the storm could unload more rain in an area already flooded with water. In Wisconsin, weeks of heavy rains have caused extensive property damage, closed businesses and school cancellations. In parts of Iowa, big cities have taken precautions against rising rivers. And in Kansas, where hundreds of people were saved from sudden floods this week, the governor said the state of emergency in several counties.

The hurricane center was also following another storm in the Atlantic. Hurricane Florence, which has blown 105 miles an hour, is well to the east of Bermuda and should not threaten British territory until at least next week, if at all.

Wednesday morning, along the Gulf Coast, more than 35,000 customers were without electricity. Coastal emergency management did not report any significant damage, and despite the closure of schools and roads throughout the region, authorities reported that typical daily life would resume rapidly.

"The preparation, coordination and cooperation of the citizens during this storm have greatly minimized the impact across our state," said Wednesday Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey.

The Harrison County Sheriff of Missouri, which includes the cities of Biloxi and Gulfport and several controlled casinos shut down because of the storm, lifted the curfew at 4 am three hours before it expired.

And Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans said that the city's offices would open at noon and, knowing that many schools in the area remained closed, said the children could join their parents at work "if possible".

The storm was expected until Tuesday afternoon to become the first hurricane to hit the continental United States this year. But the warm waters of the Gulf have only added to the storm, which has also dealt with dry air, which can suppress the warm updrafts characteristic of hurricanes and wind shear, which can disrupt the structure of the storm. 'a storm.

Although September is a traditionally busy month during the hurricane season that begins in June and ends on November 30, no other tropical cyclone is imminently threatening the United States.

Forecasters are also monitoring an emerging system off the west coast of Africa, which they say is likely to become a tropical depression this week. If this system gets stronger in a tropical storm, he would call Helen.