MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Don Shepherd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, told the Pensacola News Journal a tornado was confirmed overnight near Whiting Naval Air Station in Milton as Tropical Storm Gordon hit the area.

The tornado was spotted about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of the Pensacola mobile home park where a child was killed by a falling tree limb. Shepherd did not have damage reports from the small twister.

Gordon weakened to a tropical depression Wednesday morning and is expected to continue weakening as it moves inland.

___

8:05 a.m.

Officials in Florida’s Escambia County haven’t yet released the identity of a child killed when a large oak tree limb fell onto a mobile home near Pensacola as Tropical Storm Gordon skirted the Florida Panhandle.

In an email sent Wednesday morning, officials said the county received 10 calls overnight for downed trees in roadways, along with multiple reports of regarding arcing power lines.

The county’s emergency operations center noted peak wind gusts of 61 mph (98 kph).

Officials are warning beachgoers of dangerous rip currents in the Gulf of Mexico. Beaches in the area are flying red flags, which means it is illegal to enter the Gulf.

Crews are also assessing roadways and bridges following a night of wind and rain.

Gordon has weakened to a tropical depression and is expected to continue weakening as it moves inland.

___

7:25 a.m.

Utility firms say thousands of customers remain without power as bands of rain from Gordon continued to soak some areas.

Alabama Power said that by 7 a.m. CDT, about 21,000 customers were without power, mostly in the Mobile metro area. The majority of the outages across the region were in Alabama.

Alabama Power said in an update on the power outages that its crews were working in areas where it was safe for them to do so.

Mississippi Power said on its website that only about 275 customers remained without power at 7:15 a.m. CDT.

At the height of the storm, more than 27,000 customers across the region were without electricity, mostly in coastal Alabama, southeast Mississippi and the western tip of the Florida Panhandle around Pensacola.

Gordon has weakened to a tropical depression and is expected to continue weakening as it moves inland.

___

7:25 a.m.

The mayor of Dauphin Island — a barrier island off the Alabama coast — says about half of the community remained without power as dawn broke Wednesday.

Mayor Jeff Collier says the causeway that connects the island to the mainland remained open all night as Tropical Storm Gordon swirled overhead, despite some driftwood and other debris the ocean hurled onto the roadway.

In a telephone interview from his house, which had no power around dawn Wednesday, the mayor said town officials were preparing to visit the island’s west end. That’s where most of the power outages were. He said he’s heard no reports of any significant emergencies or any widespread damage on the island.

Collier said “it sounds like, for the most part, we did OK.”

Gordon has weakened to a tropical depression and is expected to continue weakening as it moves inland.

___

7:10 a.m.

Gordon has weakened to a tropical depression over central Mississippi after hitting the Gulf Coast as a tropical storm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm’s maximum sustained winds decreased Wednesday morning to near 35 mph (55 kph) with additional weakening expected as it moves inland.

Gordon never became a hurricane before making landfall just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border late Tuesday. But it was still deadly, killing a child when a tree was blown onto a mobile home in Florida.

Forecasters say the threat of heavy rains and flooding continues along with the possibility of a tornado.

___

6 a.m.

Rain is still falling in Mobile, Alabama, in the wake of Tropical Storm Gordon and the power is out in places, but the lights are on at a Waffle House restaurant where factory worker Jerome Richardson was happy to get breakfast.

He said his lights went out at about 9 p.m. as Gordon moved in from the coast, and he was still without electricity as he left for work. He says he hopes he doesn’t have to throw out everything in his refrigerator when he comes home from his 12-hour shift.

Driftwood and other debris on the causeway made for a hazardous trip to nearby Dauphin Island, where a storm surge submerged streets with seawater overnight.

___

4:45 a.m.

Forecasters say remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon could cause flash flooding across parts of seven states — as far north as southern Iowa — in coming days.

In its latest update before dawn Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center says the storm is expected to leave total rain amounts of 4-8 inches (10-20 centimeters) in the Florida panhandle and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois.

The Hurricane Center says that isolated amounts of 12 inches (30 centimeters) will be possible in parts of the region through early Saturday.

Though Gordon is expected to weaken to a tropical depression sometime Wednesday morning, forecasters say tornadoes will still be possible Wednesday and Wednesday night in Mississippi and western Alabama.

___

3:45 a.m.

Tropical Storm Gordon spawned multiple possible tornadoes as it came ashore late Tuesday.

The National Weather Service issued several tornado warnings in south Alabama and the Florida panhandle after radar indicated possible twisters associated with the storm.

There were not any immediate damage reports.

While not hurricane strength, the tropical system downed trees, flooded roadways and brought heavy rainfall as it moved inland Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service in Mobile cautioned that the Styx River near Elsanor, Alabama, could reach moderate, and possibly major, flood stage later Wednesday.

___

2:45 a.m.

A child has died in Florida in what could be Gordon’s first storm-related death.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page late Tuesday that deputies responded to a call that a tree had fallen on a mobile home in Pensacola. Upon their arrival they found a child deceased. The post says no one else in the home was injured. The name and age of the child were not released.

Tropical Storm Gordon made landfall late Tuesday just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border. Gordon formed Monday morning near the Florida Keys.

___

10:00 p.m.

The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Gordon has made landfall just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border.

The Miami-based forecasting center said Tuesday that Gordon struck about 10 p.m.

Gordon formed Monday morning near the Florida Keys.

Gordon’s maximum sustained winds were 70 mph (110 kilometers). It never achieved hurricane status.

The storm is forecast to quickly weaken as it moves inland across Mississippi, Louisiana and into Arkansas through Thursday.

The last hurricane to strike the U.S. was Nate, which came ashore in Biloxi, Mississippi, last October.

Forecasters say 4 to 8 inches (10-20 centimeters) of rain could fall along the storm’s track. Flash flood watches have been issued.

___

7 p.m.

The National Hurricane Center says Gordon has begun hurling tropical storm-force winds onshore along the Alabama and western Florida Panhandle coastline.

The Miami-based forecasting center said the core of Tropical Storm Gordon was still about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of Biloxi, Mississippi as of 7 p.m. CDT Tuesday. That’s also about 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of Mobile, Alabama.

Forecasters say the storm could become a hurricane before expected landfall sometime Tuesday night along the north-central Gulf Coast. Hurricane Nate was the last hurricane to strike the U.S., making landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi, last October.

Forecasters say Gordon, after some strengthening late Tuesday, now packs top sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph). It’s moving to the northwest toward the coast at 14 mph (22 kph).