Frederic's Rains May Hit Northeast

BOSTON--The National Weather Service predicted last night that tropical storm Frederic, which has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, will bring heavy rains and possible flooding when it reaches New England early tomorrow.

The weather service said, however, that it is still too early to determine where the heaviest rains will fall because the storm's precise movements are unpredictable.

On the Gulf Coast some of the more than 400,000 people who had evacuated returned to their homes late Wednesday. Thousands of others remained in emergency shelters, authorities said.