Forecasters predict thunderstorms spawned from Tropical Storm Cindy will move into southern Arkansas Thursday night and begin to spread, bringing heavy rain south and east of Little Rock into Friday. There's a possibility for flooding, strong winds and isolated tornadoes.

The system is moving north at 12 miles per hour, with winds at 40 miles per hour, according to a National Hurricane Center advisory.

Heavy rainfall is expected for parts of the northern Gulf Coast, southeastern and eastern United States, with some areas experiencing the potential for "life-threatening flash flooding", the National Weather Service said.

Heavy rain from the remnants of a tropical storm is expected this weekend in West Virginia and a flash flood watch has been issued for most of the state, where 23 people were killed in flooding last June.

Crews in Memphis cleared storm drains to help prevent street flooding before the storm arrived.

The Gulf Coast was still suffering from the effects of Cindy, a former tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico that crawled ashore early Thursday near the Louisiana-Texas state line.

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"It's kind of like a slow-motion disaster for us now", said Greg Flynn with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

After the two full days of storms, the rainfall totals are expected to be anywhere from 1-3 inches, with some areas possibly seeing more.

The Storm Prediction Center says severe weather is still possible in an area reaching from the Deep South to western Pennsylvania as remnants of Cindy move northward.

As a slow-moving tropical storm that formed Tuesday in the Gulf, Cindy was blamed for one death: a 10-year-old boy, Nolan McCabe of St. Louis, Missouri, was vacationing with his family on the Alabama coast when he was hit by a log washed in by a large wave.

Although there is no lightning associated with the rain thus far, the weather service says going through this morning, there should be enough instability for at least scattered thunderstorms to develop. Four people were taken to the hospital with what appeared to be minor injuries, the station said. As the system gets closer, rain will fall at a steady rate, he said.

"I had heard Tropical Storm Cindy mentioned", Clewley said. But she added she saw no damage in her neighbourhood and thought there was much hype in advance because officials feel it's better that people be overprepared than underprepared.