NEW ORLEANS – Tropical Storm Matthew (search), the 13th named storm of the 2004 hurricane season, weakened Sunday after moving into southern Louisiana, causing scattered flooding as heavy rain drenched the area.
Elsewhere, the 14th named storm, a "subtropical" system named Nicole, blew gusty wind across Bermuda (search).
A tropical storm warning along the Gulf of Mexico from the Alabama-Florida state line westward to Intracoastal City, La., was discontinued when Matthew weakened to a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center (search) said in Miami.
Up to 12 inches of rain flooded streets and homes in southeastern Louisiana, according to the National Weather Service (search). No injuries were reported.
A canal levee was breached in Terrebonne Parish, causing flooding in about a dozen homes, said Mart Black, spokesman for the parish's emergency operations center.
Officials patrolled flooded streets and blocked motorists from driving into lower St. Bernard Parish southeast of New Orleans, where up to 2 feet of water filled the roads, said Larry J. Ingargiola, parish emergency chief.
New Orleans received about 3 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday and saw scattered power outages.
The hurricane center issued what it expected to be its last advisory for Matthew late Sunday morning, when its sustained wind had slowed to about 35 mph and its poorly defined center was about 40 miles west of New Orleans. The storm was expected to continue to weaken as it moved farther inland.
Meanwhile, at 11 p.m. EDT Nicole was centered about 55 miles north-northwest of Bermuda, moving toward the east-northeast at 15 mph. It did not meet the strict definition of a tropical storm but was classified a subtropical storm with outlying bands of 45 mph maximum sustained wind.
"The winds are spread out in a band well removed from the center," said Richard Pasch, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center. "We don't think this one has much potential to become a tropical storm."
Bermuda was feeling gusts as high as 56 mph, rain and higher surf, but the island's weather was expected to improve early Monday.
Nantucket and Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and the coasts of Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia could feel Nicole's outer effects by the middle of the week, the hurricane center said.
The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
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