'PRETTY UNEVENTFUL': Okaloosa County weathers Claudette (UPDATE)

Florida's Gulf Coast dodged a bullet as surprise Tropical Storm Claudette came ashore early Monday morning.

No damage, no injuries, no flooding and no road closures have been reported in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa or Walton counties.

Claudette formed suddenly in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday morning, then just after midnight hit Fort Walton Beach with rain and winds approaching 50 mph.

At 1 a.m. Claudette was located at latitude 30.5 degrees north, 86.6 degrees west, or directly over Fort Walton Beach. The system was moving northwest at 12 mph. Winds remained at 50 mph and the central pressure was steady at 1006 millibars. A recording station in Destin clocked a wind gust of 45 mph. Claudette was not expected to strengthen.

Four people took advantage of an emergency storm shelter in Crestview, but left after breakfast. The shelter was closed by 7 a.m.

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To see photos of the aftermath, click here.

To see photos of Gov. Crist assessing the damage in Destin, click here.

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The biggest power outages from the storm came in Okaloosa County at the Hickory Street circuit in Bluewater Bay. About 1,267 residents there lost power twice overnight. The first time power was out close to an hour and a half. Another outage at about 4:13 a.m. Monday morning has also been restored.

"The rest of the outages were scattered," said CHELCO spokesperson Kathy Morrow, adding 500 other customers were affected by a loss of power from Tropical Storm Claudette. "It was not that big of a deal for a little blow that surprised us."

Jeff Rogers, communication specialist for Gulf Power, said 15 customers were without power in our area Monday morning. Fifty were affected by a power loss over night.

"I think the event was not nearly as severe as they thought it was going to be," Rogers said.

A few transformers sustained damage, particularly in Destin and Shalimar. The occasional power line came down, notably at the intersection of Racetrack Road and Jackson Street in Fort Walton Beach.

The Florida Department of Transportation hadn't received any calls about State road closures Monday morning. Neither had the Walton County Sheriff's Office or Okaloosa County Emergency Management.

"We have nothing to report," said Tommie Speights with the DOT. "We have nothing in the entire district. That's surprising."

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To see photos of surfers taking advantage of surf kicked up by Claudette, click here.

To see photos of the storm gathering on the horizon of Destin, click here.

To see more shots from the beach, click here.

To read about the science behind Claudette, click here.

The Florida Freedom gang in Panama City is liveblogging the storm. And, yes, The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore is on the scene. Click here for their up-to-the-minute reports.

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Sheriff's Office spokesperson Mike Gurspan lives in South Alabama and said he ran into a few pockets of rain on his way to DeFuniak Springs Monday morning, but did not see any severe weather or flooding.

Flooding is possible later Monday if heavy rains continue to come ashore, Okaloosa County Emergency Coordinator Ken Wolfe said. But flooding isn't an imminent concern in Santa Rosa County.

"We didn't even have a downed tree. It barely rained," said Santa Rosa County Public Information Officer Joy Tsubooka. "We've been checking the river gauges and the rivers are low, for now."

The National Weather Service reports isolated areas along the Gulf Coast could see 5-10 inches of rainfall Monday, but the normal count should fall between 3-5 inches.

Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Dino Villani described Claudette as "pretty uneventful."

Claudette formed out of a tropical wave just west of Tampa, then moved northwest, becoming the first named storm to hit the continental United States this year. Another tropical storm –  Bill – is lurking in the Atlantic.

The National Weather Service has canceled the tropical storm warning for the Florida Panhandle, but warns wind gusts of 30-35mph and mild storm surge of 2 to 4 feet may still occur throughout Monday.

 Daily News Online Editor Del Stone and Web Developer Sean Flynn contributed to this report.