Fay Moves West, Bringing More Rain To Fla.

Tropical Storm Fay continued drenching Florida as it slowly moved west toward the Panhandle, with rain accumulations of up to eight inches and tropical watch warnings extending to Alabama and Mississippi.

Fay, which has caused severe flooding throughout the state, was expected to cross Florida's Panhandle with sustained winds of 45 mph and gusts of up to 55 mph.

Steve E. Smith, president of Property Solutions Carvill ReAdvisory, said the past two days have seen Fay stall over the Atlantic Coast, bringing massive amounts of rain. Fay was weakening as it moved slowly westward toward the Gulf Coast.

Meteorologists thought Fay could potentially enter the Gulf of Mexico, make one or two more landfalls, then die out over the southern United States.

Fay has made landfall over Florida three times since it first struck the state on Monday, moving north over the peninsula after first crossing the Keys.

Despite all the flooding, insurers have indicated they are not seeing many claims, primarily because much of the damage is flood related, or people have not been able to get out and report their claims.

Late yesterday, Gary Kerney, assistant vice president of Property Claim Services, a subsidiary of Jersey City, N.J.-based Insurance Services Office Inc., said in a statement, "PCS does not currently have an estimate of insured losses as a result of Tropical Storm Fay and related severe weather that occurred this week across Florida."

According to Karen Clark & Co's Wide Damage Scale map, damage from Tropical Storm Fay is limited to KS1, slight damage that is barely visible. At one point, when the storm crossed Florida just northwest of Lake Okeechobee, it intensified to a KC2, which indicates spotty damage with minor home damage, downed trees and power outages.

The National Weather Service warned of storm surge along the east Florida and Georgia coast of between two to four feet. The storm has dumped as much as 30 inches on some portions of the state, the Weather Service said.

The National Hurricane Center's five-day forecast map indicates Fay should become a tropical depression once it leaves Florida, moving along the coast of Alabama into Mississippi and turning in a northeasterly direction by Wednesday.

Fay has been blamed for five deaths in the state. Yesterday, President George W. Bush issued an emergency declaration for Florida allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts. The declaration covers the entire state.

Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center reported the formation of two systems in the Atlantic that could form tropical depressions. A large but disorganized area is sitting 350 miles east of the Windward Islands, moving north-northwest at 15 mph. The second is 1,300 miles east of the Leeward Islands moving west-northwest at about 20-25 mph.

Any additional developments of either system would be slow to occur, the National Hurricane Center said.