By Dorie Turner and Holbrook Mohr
ATLANTA - The slow-moving remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped a torrent of rain across the South on Monday and whipped up twisters in Georgia as the storm system pushed farther inland.
One death was reported, and at least one person was injured.
In Mississippi, a man was swept away by floodwaters after trying to cross a swollen creek, the first death caused by flooding or winds from Lee. The system was sweeping through Alabama and pushing into Georgia, where the suspected tornadoes sent trees falling into homes and injured at least one person.
In Woodstock, Mickey Swims and his wife hid in their home's basement during the storm.
"I heard it and saw the trees go around and around," Swims said. "I knew when I heard it that if it touched down, it was going to be bad."
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Swims owns the Dixie Speedway, and he estimated his racetrack had up to $500,000 worth of damage.
In areas of Louisiana and Mississippi that took the brunt of the storm over the weekend, at least 16,000 people remained without power as of Monday afternoon.
The man who died in Mississippi, 57-year-old John Howard Anderson Jr., had been in a car with two other people trying to cross a rain-swollen creek on Sunday night.
Jonathan Weeks, a 48-year-old salesman from Plantersville who owns a vacation home nearby, said he helped pull two people to shore and tried to save Anderson.
"We threw them a rope and tied it to a tree," Weeks said. "We got two of them to the bank and were trying to help the driver. We had him on the rope and were trying to pull him in, but I don't think he was able to hold on."
Lee came ashore over the weekend in Louisiana, dumping up to a foot of rain in parts of New Orleans and other areas. Despite some street flooding, officials said New Orleans' 24-pump flood-control system was doing its job.
Facts on Katia
Hurricane Katia has grown to a Category 3 storm as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean.
On Monday afternoon, Katia's maximum sustained winds had increased to 116 mph. That makes Katia a major hurricane, and some additional strengthening was expected later in the day.
Hurricane specialist Todd Kimberlain says it's looking less likely that Katia will hit land but that wind from the storm could still affect the U.S. East Coast as it moves north. Kimberlain also says the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions should still keep an eye on Katia.
Katia was centered about 495 miles south of Bermuda and was moving northwest at about 12 mph.
The Associated Press
