Long stretch of Gulf Coast eyes Tropical Storm Cindy

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — From the Florida Panhandle to eastern Texas, residents and government officials along the northern Gulf Coast kept an eye on slow-moving Tropical Storm Cindy, which the National Weather Service said posed a threat of "life-threatening flash flooding."

Rain bands from the weather disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico began pushing ashore Tuesday even before it reached tropical storm strength.

Double red flags snapped in the wind on the public beach at Gulf Shores in her state, warning visitors to stay out of the pounding surf.

Officials there decided against calling an evacuation but said in a statement that anyone who wanted to head for the mainland should do so as early as possible because water might eventually cover low-lying parts of the only route off the island.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from San Luis Pass, Texas, to the Alabama-Florida border.

In coastal Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish, Kim Chauvin said the shrimp processing businesses she and her husband run helped put out the word Monday that shrimpers should return to port and unload their catch before flood control structures closed.