State of Emergency decalared in Florida due to tropical storm

As of 0900 UTC on 22 August 2008, Tropical Storm Fay was located near Gainesville, Florida. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph/40 kt with higher gusts and is moving westward at 6 mph/5 kt. According to meteorologists at Wilkens Weather Technologies, the storm will likely continuing moving westward along the southeastern Gulf coast for the next four days. However, the storm will likely not strengthen, as it will remain far enough inland to avoid warm water. The storm is expected to produce significant rainfall over parts of northern Florida, southern Georgia and Alabama over the next 36 hours. The storm has already caused significant flooding in parts of Florida. President George W. Bush has declared a state of emergency, which will provide federal aid to Florida.