TROPICAL STORMS Ivan rains on Gulf Coast

Hurricane Jeanne could hit Florida by Sunday.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Ivan's second foray into the United States came with little wind but plenty of the rain that became the three-week-old system's calling card as it raked the Caribbean and eastern United States, while Floridians braced for another possible pounding as Hurricane Jeanne appeared to be gearing up for a weekend landing.
After looping into the Atlantic and back into the Gulf of Mexico following its initial strike on the Alabama-Florida coast as a hurricane last week, Tropical Storm Ivan washed ashore near the Texas-Louisiana line Thursday night, bringing heavy rain to both sides of the border.
Problems expected
While the storm was expected to dissipate as it drifts into Texas this weekend, its rains are expected to persist and cause problems, and flood-prone Houston is in its projected path.
"[Tonight] through Saturday morning, if you run a line through Galveston, Houston and College Station, that area probably is really going to get pounded," said National Weather Service meteorologist Kent Prochazka.
Jefferson County received between 3 and 3.5 inches of rain over four hours, but no flooding problems were immediately reported.
Louisiana was also spared any major problems.
"It's just kind of like a cold front," Cameron Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Freddie Richard Jr. said late Thursday. "We're just getting some rain and a little bit of wind."
Florida residents also had that oh-no-not-again feeling as 105-mph Hurricane Jeanne appeared to be zeroing in this weekend for what would be the state's fourth thrashing this season.
Jeanne has already been blamed for 1,070 flooding deaths in Haiti. At 5 a.m. EDT, Jeanne was centered about 535 miles east of Miami and moving west at 8 mph, and was expected to reach Florida by Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It had top sustained winds of 100 mph, down about 5 mph from a day earlier.