Citizens of Georgia take out umbrellas as Tammy lashes state with heavy rains

Tropical Storm Tammy brought heavy rain and gusty winds to southeast Georgia early Thursday after leaving Florida practically unscathed.

Packing 40 mph winds, Tammy dropped 5 to 10 inches of rain over parts of southeast Georgia, the National Weather Service said, based on radar estimates.

The storm was also expected to dump 3 to 5 inches in eastern South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 5 a.m. Thursday, Tammy was a centered about 130 miles west-southwest of Savannah. The storm was moving northwest at 14 mph.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the 265 miles from Altamaha Sound, Ga., to South Santee River, S.C. The warning means tropical storm conditions were expected within 24 hours, reports Washington Post.

According to CNN, gale warnings, however, may be issued by local weather offices outside the warning area, the hurricane center said. Tropical storm-force winds and heavy rains were confined to an area north and east of the center, mainly over water but also near coastlines in the warning area. The winds extended outward up to 200 miles northeast of Tammy's center.

The storm was expected to continue weakening and will likely become a tropical depression later Thursday, forecasters said.

People in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas were also being warned to keep an eye out for tornadoes spinning off from the storm.

In St. Mary's, Georgia, emergency officials put a shelter capable of holding 300 people on standby, said Mark Crews, Camden County's emergency management director.

Tammy, which only formed Wednesday morning off the coast of Florida, is the 19th named storm of the busy 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and the third tropical storm to hit the U.S. coast, which has also been menaced by four hurricanes this year.

Photo: ACCUWEATHER P.T.