NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tropical Storm Claudette is dumping heavy rain along the U.S. Gulf Coast, bringing a risk of flash floods and tornados to areas of Mississippi and Alabama.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a 7 a.m. advisory that the storm was located 30 miles north of New Orleans with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Residents of Pace, Florida, on the panhandle reported a possible tornado that damaged at least five homes. Santa Rosa County, Florida, spokeswoman Sarah Whitfield said no one was injured. National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Beaman said another possible twister flipped a mobile home in Brewton, Alabama.

The storm was forecast to become a tropical depression by early Sunday.

(Story written by KEVIN McGILL and RUSS BYNUM/AP)

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