Remnants of TS Nicole dump rain from Georgia to New York

WILBUR-BY-THE-SEA, Florida (AP) — The remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole sent heavy rains falling from Georgia to New York on Friday as flooding and surging ocean waters receded from a stretch of Florida coastline where the most damaging impacts became evident after it made landfall as a hurricane.

Now a depression, Nicole could dump as much as eight inches (20 centimetres) of rain over the Blue Ridge Mountains and there was a chance of flash and urban flooding as far north as New England.

With the centre of the storm about 35 miles (55 kilometres) north of Atlanta and maximum sustained winds down to 30 mph (45 kph), forecasters issued a string of tornado warnings in North and South Carolina, although no touchdowns or damage were reported immediately. Much of both states and Virginia were under a tornado watch.

Wrecks added to Atlanta's notoriously bad traffic as rain from Nicole fell across the metro area during rush hour, and a few school systems in mountainous north Georgia cancelled classes.

The storm caused at least three deaths and swallowed once-wide stretches of sand in the Daytona Beach area — famous for its drivable beaches — after coming ashore near Vero Beach early Thursday. Some homes toppled into the Atlantic Ocean.

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