Tropical Storm Departs as Hurricane Threatens

NEW ORLEANS â€”  Tropical Storm Cindy flooded streets, shut down oil production and knocked out power to thousands in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday before weakening and moving inland.

The storm brought about 10 inches of rain and 70-mph winds. There was substantial flooding along the Gulf Coast, and the storm ripped up piers in Alabama as it passed.

The storm shredded power lines and toppled trees in New Orleans, where business owners in the historic French Quarter had barricaded doors with sandbags to protect against high water.

Meanwhile, Floridians kept a watchful eye on Hurricane Dennis as it moved through the Caribbean on a path that could bring the storm to U.S. shores by the weekend.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami could not say with certainty where Dennis would hit since the storm was so far away. But they cautioned people to be ready for Dennis, which could be a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 111 mph to 130 mph by the time it hit the United States.

“Pretty much everyone from the [Florida] Keys all the way to Texas� should be monitoring Dennis’ progress, said Chris Hennon, a meteorologist at the center.

This is “the earliest we’ve had this many named storms in recorded history in the Atlantic,� forecaster Christopher Lauer said.

About 12% of the Gulf of Mexico’s daily oil production was shut off Wednesday because of rig evacuations forced by Cindy, a government agency reported.

Many New Orleans residents were caught off guard by the strength of the storm.

“When you see oak trees that have been up for 200, 250 years, toppling with the roots intact, that is a pretty impressive sight for a tropical storm,� said Capt. Mike Sanders of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The hurricane season’s peak is more than a month away, but Florida has been affected by two tropical storms. They both brought rain and minor problems to the Panhandle, an area devastated by Hurricane Ivan last year.

Florida got pummeled by four hurricanes last year.

“We have all our shutters all prepared,� said Jacque Sands, a manager at the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West.

Hurricane warnings were posted Wednesday night for Jamaica, Haiti, parts of Cuba and the Cayman Islands. Dennis had sustained winds of 85 mph with higher gusts Wednesday night and was expected to have winds above 100 mph by today, forecasters said.

Haiti is particularly vulnerable to flooding because most of its forests have been chopped down. Last year, about 6,000 people died in floods spawned by storms.

Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management said people were being evacuated from flood-prone areas and some roads had been blocked by mudslides as bands of rain swept ashore. There were no reports of casualties. Supermarkets said they were running low on supplies as people rushed to stock up on nonperishable goods, and schools were closed.