<div><p>Tropical storm Ida drenched the US Gulf coast Tuesday, but made landfall with weakened force after cutting a swath of destruction that left 136 dead in Central America.</p><p>Ida was a category two hurricane on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale on Sunday, but lost strength as it moved north and is forecast to further weaken Tuesday.</p><p>The storm however remains dangerous: it is forecast to dump up to eight inches (20 centimeters) of rain across the southeastern United States, and area officials were preparing for floods and damage caused by the ocean surge.</p><p>Ida made landfall at 1140 GMT on Dauphin Island, Alabama, packing wind gusts of 45 miles per hour (75 kilometers per hour), and was forecast to hit mainland Alabama later Tuesday, said the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.</p><p>At 1200 GMT Tuesday the center of Ida was 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Mobile, Alabama, thrashing small islands and moving towards the northeast at a speed of nine miles (15 kilometers) per hour.</p><p>"Some additional weakening is expected," the NHC said, "and Ida is expected to lose tropical characteristics later today."</p><p> However through Wednesday, Ida "is expected to produce total rain accumulations of three to six inches (eight to 15 centimeters)," with some areas receiving up to eight inches (20 centimeters).</p><p>The NHC also warned of a "dangerous storm tide" along the coastline. "The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves," it said.</p><p>In Louisiana, where memories of the devastating 2005 Hurricane Katrina are still fresh, Governor Bobby Jindal urged residents to be prepared.</p><p>"We urge people to take precautions and watch their children," Jindal said in a late Monday press conference.</p><p>Storm tides could be six feet (1.8 meters) higher than normal, resulting in "nuisance flooding" on low-lying roads across the Louisiana coastline, Jindal said, as trees across New Orleans swayed under darkening skies.</p><p> However, the US Army Corps of Engineers is "confident" that the vast network of levees, pumps and drainage canals will protect New Orleans from serious flooding, Jindal said.</p><p>Officials offered sandbags to residents in flood-prone areas, and announced "voluntary evacuations" for low-lying areas outside the city's levee protection system.</p><p>This year, the Pacific's El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon resulted in an especially calm Atlantic hurricane season -- a welcome respite for Caribbean and southeastern US residents still smarting from a 2008 pounding.</p><p>There have only been two other hurricanes in the 2009 Atlantic season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.</p><p>However the tail end of Ida, coupled with a low pressure system in the Pacific, caused heavy flooding in El Salvador over the weekend that killed 136 people, civil defense officials said Monday.</p><p>Torrential rain has also struck neighboring Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=63059803&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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