Tropical Storm Lashes Florida; Related Rains Pelt Carolinas

Tropical Storm Marco toppled trees and power lines Thursday as it swept along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Heavy rain streaming northward from the storm washed out roads and dams in the Carolinas.

Nearly 10 inches of rain fell in 24 hours in parts of South Carolina, with unofficial reports of up to 11 inches, the National Weather Service said.

The rain was blamed for as many as five deaths in the Carolinas, officials said.

Marco pelted Florida’s central and southwest coast with winds up to 65 m.p.h. and dumped up to five inches of rain before it began weakening. Schools were closed in Manatee and Sarasota counties, where wind gusts up to 80 m.p.h. toppled power lines, knocking out electricity to 50,000 people.

“It’s weakening . . . but now the big problem is the rain,” said Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla.

Three people were missing in South Carolina after a dam failed late Wednesday in Kershaw County, witnesses said. Also in South Carolina, rain forced the evacuations of residents in Orangeburg County. Other dams overflowed in Kershaw County and two bridges were undermined in Kershaw and Chesterfield counties, the weather service reported.

Two North Carolina highway deaths were blamed on the heavy rain, and nearly six inches of rain was reported at Kannapolis. Wednesday’s total of 4.10 inches at Charlotte was a record for the date, weather officials said.

Bermuda, meanwhile, was feeling the effects of Hurricane Lili, which was producing rain, thunderstorms and winds of 75 m.p.h. Sheets said the hurricane was racing west and could approach the East Coast as early as tonight.