The remnants of former Tropical Storm Emily moved over the open Atlantic and away from the U.S. East Coast on Sunday after dumping heavy rains on the Bahamas, according to Reuters. The U.S. National Hurricane Center downgraded the weather disturbance from a tropical depression in an afternoon advisory when it dissipated some 295 miles (475 km) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Emily's rains set off flooding that killed four people and forced thousands to evacuate their homes in the Dominican Republic and Haiti over the last few days. Tropical Storm Emily, the fifth named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, broke apart on Thursday as it moved over the mountains on the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The mass of thunderstorms regenerated into a tropical depression over the northern Bahamas on Saturday.
