Tropical Storm Hanna threatening area from northern Florida to Louisiana

<br>MIAMI (AP) _ Tropical Storm Hanna moved its way toward the Gulf Coast on Friday and threatened to leave rainfall accumulations of 4 to 8 inches in its path, forecasters said. <br><br>A tropical storm

Friday, September 13th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ Tropical Storm Hanna moved its way toward the Gulf Coast on Friday and threatened to leave rainfall accumulations of 4 to 8 inches in its path, forecasters said.

A tropical storm warning was in effect early Friday from the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf coast of Louisiana, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the storm had sustained winds of 45 mph and was heading northwest at about 8 mph.

The center of the storm could reach the coast sometime Saturday morning, forecasters said.

The storm was upgraded to a tropical storm early Friday. It was not expected to reach hurricane intensity before landfall, forecaster James Franklin said.

Hanna is the ninth tropical storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

The season's first, and so far only hurricane, lost its force on Thursday and was becoming a winter-like low-pressure system, forecasters said. Hurricane Gustav sped into Newfoundland early Thursday.

Tropical storms become hurricanes when their sustained winds hit 74 mph.