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Ida's soggy but spent

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The Associated Press

Published: November 11, 2009

Updated: 11/11/2009 12:11 am

PENSACOLA - Tropical Storm Ida sloshed ashore with rain and gusty winds Tuesday before weakening to a depression, causing little damage along the Gulf Coast but bringing rain to the already-soaked Southeast.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Ida's center first touched land on Dauphin Island, Ala., before heading across Mobile Bay toward the Alabama mainland and on to Florida.

Top winds dropped to near 35 mph as Ida weakened. Forecasters said it likely would be absorbed by a front today.

The scene it left behind delighted tourists and residents strolling on Pensacola Beach in the Florida Panhandle on Tuesday afternoon.

"It is beautiful, spectacular," said F.M. Hall of Tennessee as he waded into the frothy water and watched the whitecaps play themselves out on the white sand.

Eric Rohde strolled the beach with his 9-year-old twin sons, Dylan and Zackery, who were collecting shells, driftwood and other treasures washed up by the surf.

"I grew up in Ohio, and this place is paradise," said Rohde, who now lives in Pensacola.
Tropical storm warnings were discontinued Tuesday morning across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Forecasters said the storm had spread most of its heavy rain along the Gulf Coast ahead of Ida's center. Rain continued Tuesday in Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia, where flooding was a concern.

"The only thing it did to us is knock out the power," resident Jimmy Wentworth said as he sipped coffee outside the Ship&Shore convenience store on Dauphin Island. "Our houses and people are fine. I'm fine."

In Louisiana, authorities continued their search for 70-year-old fisherman Leo Ancalade, who was presumed dead after he was knocked off his boat by a wave as Ida approached on Monday. The Coast Guard said he was towing friends whose small boat lost power in the Mississippi River.

No other deaths were reported in the United States.

The storm did wash out a section of seawall designed to protect the Jetty East condominium complex in Destin from storm surge. Inspectors declared the building safe for residents, but repairs will be needed on top of the $300,000 spent during hurricane season last year.

Ida started moving across the Gulf as the third hurricane of this year's quiet Atlantic tropical season, which will end on Dec. 1. It weakened before landfall. Ronnie Powell, headed to his construction job on Pensacola Beach, wasn't impressed. "We've had thunderstorms worse than that."

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