St Petersburg, Florida:  Florida, Alabama and Mississippi have launched emergency preparations ahead of the arrival of Subtropical Storm Alberto, a slow-moving system expected to cause chaos across the eastern US Gulf Coast over that country's Memorial Day weekend.

Heavy downpours are expected to begin lashing parts of those states  on Sunday. The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued tropical storm warnings for parts of Florida and Alabama, saying tropical storm conditions are possible there by Sunday night. The governors of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi all declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.

Up to 25 centimetres of rain is expected to be dumped along affected areas in eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, western Tennessee and the western Florida Panhandle. Isolated areas could see as much as 38 centimetres.

In Gulfport, Mississippi, residents lined up to fill sandbags hoping to block expected floodwaters.

Tommy Whitlock said sandbagging has become a usual event in his life since he lives next to a creek.