By Randy Nieves-Ruiz
Miami - The first major storm of the 2005 United States East Coast hurricane season weakened to a tropical depression late on Saturday, with meteorologists still forecasting heavy rainfall and flooding.
Tropical depression Arlene, which made landfall in the northern Gulf of Mexico between Alabama and Florida hours earlier as a tropical storm, was packing sustained winds of 55km/h, from 113km/h just hours before while still off the US coast.
Dozens of people fled for shelter as Arlene approached, evacuations were ordered, and stormy seas claimed the life of a swimmer.
In Miami Beach, a distance from the storm's centre, a Russian student was drowned late on Friday while out swimming, due to the churning waters and exceptionally high waves brought by Arlene.
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By 8pm on Saturday, the storm had weakened into a tropical depression over south-west Alabama, with all tropical storm warnings discontinued.
Southern Florida had been feeling the brunt of the tropical storm since Friday, with high winds and persistent heavy rain as the storm churned toward US states along the Gulf of Mexico.
Earlier in the week, Arlene had dumped dousing rains on Cuba.
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