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Nate Weakens While Moving Across Alabama

Nate Orange Beach

Nate quickly weakened to a tropical depression after making landfall in Biloxi, Mississippi and tracking north into central Alabama, but parts of south Alabama are dealing with power outages and some flooding.

After a tour of the area, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said the area had been "blessed" and that he'd seen "amazingly little damage". Officials in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach say their cities are "open and clear". Roads like the I-10 Causeway outside Mobile and the Dauphin Island Causeway and Bridge had been closed in anticipation of storm surge, but are now back open. A few area roads are still closed due to downed trees.

Officials report minor damage to piers and seawalls, and minor beach erosion. However, the area's power grid did take a hit. Alabama Power announced earlier this morning that over 80,000 customers were without service. The majority of those were in the Mobile area, but tens of thousands of people also lost power in metro Birmingham and central Alabama due to high winds. The utility is bringing in approximately 1,000 outside personnel to help restore power as quickly as possible.

Officials say conditions have already "improved considerably" in south Alabama, as the storm surge has peaked at just under 6 feet and is already beginning to recede. The National Weather Service in Mobile says some parts of south Alabama including downtown Mobile received more than six inches of rainfall during the storm.

In the northern part of the state, tropical storm warnings have been replaced with wind advisories as the main threat is potential sustained winds between 30 and 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. Flash flooding is also possible, as some areas in northeast Alabama could receive up to six inches of rain as well.

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