Remnants of Lee Head North; Hurricane Katia Picks Up Strength
Cheryl Gerber/Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS) -- With Hurricane Katia picking up steam as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Depression Lee is moving up the East Coast after drenching parts of the deep South and leaving thousands without power.
On Monday, the skies over Louisiana were clearing after Lee, which made landfall as a tropical storm Sunday, dropped more than 14 inches of rain in some parts -- more than the state normally gets in a month. Although the storm system was downgraded to a depression overnight, forecasters still warned of heavy rain and flooding.
In Mississippi, nearly 5,000 customers were reportedly without power.
In some parts of Louisiana, small boats were the only way to get around. Winds knocked down trees and spawned water spouts.
The storm put New Orleans' post-Katrina flood protection to the test. Some of the city's streets were flooded but the pumping system kept pace. Evacuations appeared to be in the hundreds, not the thousands.
Before Lee was downgraded, the storm produced almost 20 tornadoes during the weekend in several Gulf Coast states.
Craig Staples told ABC News that it felt like Hurricane Katrina again.
"Not as bad, kind of scary," Staples said. "It's a shock."
Meanwhile, Katia was downgraded to a Category 3 hurricane on Tuesday after becoming the first Category 4 storm of the 2011 Atlantic season overnight. The hurricane is about 400 miles away from Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Katia is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. but could bring strong rip currents along the country's East Coast and Bermuda come Wednesday.
Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio