STEVE SZKOTAK
November 13, 2009 - 2:54PM

AP

Torrential rains have lashed parts of the US East Coast, flooding
streets, closing schools and causing five deaths.

The deluge and winds gusting in excess of 50km/h were the work of
late-season Tropical Storm Ida, which quickly weakened once it made
landfall on the US Gulf Coast on Tuesday but still soaked the southeast
from Alabama to Georgia.

Three people were killed in weather-related traffic accidents in
hard-hit Virginia, said state police spokeswoman Corrine Geller on Thursday.

In North Carolina, an elderly man was killed when a tree knocked down by
strong winds fell on him, said Curt Deaton, the assistant fire chief in
Mooresville, about 50km north of Charlotte.

In New York City, a 36-year-old man surfing at a beach died after
getting caught in pounding surf churned up by the storm.

Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine declared a state of emergency and
officials urged people in some areas to stay home.

Rain and resulting floods are predicted to continue at least through
Friday, especially along the state's southeastern coast and particularly
in Norfolk, a coastal city of a quarter-million people.

Dominion Power reported more than 77,000 customers without electricity
in Virginia and North Carolina.

The National Weather Service said that rainfall in some places on the
coast was nearly 150 millimetres.

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