Tropical Storm Beryl leaves thousands without power in Florida and Georgia

Tropical Storm Beryl ruined Memorial Day for thousands of people along the northern Florida and Georgia coasts, dumping between four and eight inches of rain and leaving thousands without power.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm made landfall shortly after midnight near Jacksonville Beach, Fla., with the strongest wind gust of 73 miles per hour recorded at nearby Buck Island. Beryl was downgraded to a tropical depression, the weather service said.

More than 21,000 people lost power in the Jacksonville area, according to the power company there.

According to the Weather Channel, more than 26,000 people were without power in northeast Florida and southern Georgia.

According to CNN, a tropical storm warning had been in effect from Flagler Beach, Fla., to the Savannah River, which divides Georgia and South Carolina. Beaches from Florida to North Carolina issued warnings to swimmers of dangerous rip currents ahead of the storm, which brought much-needed rain to the drought-stricken region.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. Tropical Storm Alberto, with winds topping 60 miles per hour, formed off the Southeast coast on May 19--the earliest-forming tropical storm in the Atlantic since 2003. Alberto, though, never made landfall.

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