Caribbean storm moves north, douses East Coast

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The remains of Tropical Storm Nicole battered the U.S. Atlantic Coast like a hurricane as it moved from the Carolinas to New England on Friday.

Nicole was a minimal tropical storm for just six hours on Wednesday, but the broad, ragged system poured heavy rain on Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, south Florida and the Bahamas before continuing its northern path.

The death toll from the storm rose on Thursday to 12 in Jamaica and four in the United States.

The storm's remnants were moving up the U.S. East Coast and brought gusting winds, pounding surf and coastal flooding to the region.

"The effects will be similar to that of a hurricane from eastern North Carolina to New England," private forecaster AccuWeather said in an advisory.

"The soggy ground and high winds will cause fully leafed trees to easily topple and soggy branches to fall, taking power lines with them."

The system dumped heavy rains along much of the East Coast as it moved north in a narrow column, with parts of Maryland receiving more than 8 inches of rain, while areas in Connecticut saw two to 3 inches of rain.

Total rain in parts of Pennsylvania, including Lancaster, exceeded 5 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm spelled delays at John F. Kennedy and Newark International airports of as much as five hours, with arrivals at JFK hardest hit.