(August 22, 2008)--The water was receding Friday in parts of Florida, but the death toll from Tropical Storm Fay is rising.
At least five deaths are now linked to the lingering storm that is making its way across the state for a fifth day.
Florida officials say three people have died in traffic accidents in the heavy rain.
Two others drowned in surf kicked up by the storm.
A sixth person died of carbon monoxide poisoning while testing generators just before the storm.
Fay has dumped more than 2 feet of rain along parts of Florida's central Atlantic coast.
Emergency officials planned to begin surveying damage along the coast Friday as the floodwaters are expected to slowly recede.
Forecasters expect the storm to continue moving slowly west across northern Florida for the next day or so.
President Bush has issued a federal disaster declaration to help residents.
Late Friday morning, a Tropical Storm, warning was in effect along the state’s gulf coast from Aripeka northward and westward Destin.
A tropical storm watch was in effect from west of Destin to the Mississippi-Alabama border.
The storm’s center was about 40 miles northeast of Cedar Key Florida and Fay was moving toward the west at about 5 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds near 45 miles per hour.
Over the next 36 hours, forecasters expect Fay to produce rainfall accumulations of as much as 8 inches across the northern Florida peninsula, the Florida Panhandle, southern Georgia and southeastern Alabama.
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