Ida was downgraded to a tropical storm Monday morning after making landfall along the Gulf Coast as a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane.
Tropical Storm Ida will weaken to a tropical depression on Monday afternoon before bringing rain to North Carolina midweek, according to WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner, «That’s good news for wind damage, but it will still bring flooding rains to many states,» said Gardner, adding that storm surge on the coast of Alabama and on Florida’s panhandle will be between 2 and 5 feet Monday. As Ida moves away from Louisiana, parts of southern Mississippi and Alabama will see between 10 to 18 inches of rain with storm totals up to 24 inches. «As the storm moves into northern Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, amounts will taper down to 3 to 6 inches Tuesday and Wednesday,» Gardner said. «This includes the part of Tennessee where 20 people died during Fred’s remnants.
