Tropical Storm Claudette brings rain, floods to Gulf Coast

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tropical Storm Claudette dumped heavy rain across coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as it chugged inland Saturday, threatening flash floods and possibly tornadoes along its soggy course across the Southeast. The National Hurricane Center declared Claudette organized enough to qualify as a named storm at 4 a.m. Saturday, well after the storm's center of circulation had come ashore southwest of New Orleans. It was north of the city three hours later, with maxim