SAVANNAH, Georgia - There are no reports of major damage from the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl, which are soaking southern Georgia and northern Florida.
The storm knocked out power to tens of thousands of people as it made landfall overnight. Forecasters have downgraded it to a tropical depression, after the top sustained winds dropped from 70 miles an hour to about half that speed.
Veterans groups have been braving the weather along Georgia's coast as they take part in traditional graveside observances for Memorial Day. The commander of an American Legion post in Savannah, Jim Grismer, says a lot of people were trying to talk him into moving the event inside.
But he says that would have meant scrapping the live-fire salute and the flag raising. Robert Schulz, an 80-year-old former Marine, held a folded umbrella in one hand as he saluted with the other during the service. His wife says, "We had to come for our veterans."
Streets in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, have been unusually vacant for Memorial day, with bands of blinding rain alternating with dry conditions. A frontal system coming south from the Great Lakes is expected to push the weakened storm into the Atlantic later in the week.
The Associated Press