Hurricane Ida Drenches Southeastern U.S.

Category 2 Hurricane Ida can be seen quickly weakening to tropical storm force over the Gulf on Monday.

Hurricane Ida’s passage over the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico continued into a second week after the storm had earlier killed at least 175 people and left thousands homeless in floods and mudslides across El Salvador.

That country’s chamber of commerce said that the storm also inflicted heavy losses to sugar and coffee crops.

Ida gained strength as it passed between Cuba and Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula over the weekend, attaining Category 2 force for several hours.

But the late-season storm began to sheer, weaken and lose its tropical characteristics while approaching the Gulf Coast near Mobile, Alabama, on Monday.

It barely held on to tropical storm force when making landfall along the Florida-Alabama border, but did produce widespread heavy rainfall across the Southeast.

Remnants of the storm later drifted slowly over the Carolinas and Virginia for three days, unleashing flash floods and prompting am emergency declaration by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.

As much as 8 inches of rain fell across parts of North Carolina and Virginia.

Hurricane Ida Track

Satellite Loop Data: CIMSS