South Carolina braces for deluge as Tropical Storm Debby makes landfall
2024.08.08 08:25
By Rich McKay and Brad Brooks
ATLANTA (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Debby made landfall northeast of Charleston early on Thursday and was forecast to dump even more rain on the South Carolina coast, prompting fears of flash flooding in areas already soaked by the slow-moving weather system.
The storm, which made its second landfall after hitting Florida on Monday, could dump 9 inches (23 cm) of rain in parts of eastern South Carolina, forecasters said, with total amounts in some spots hitting more than 25 inches since Debby started lashing the southeastern United States on Monday.
An apparent tornado, spawned from Debby’s winds, tore through eastern North Carolina and damaged at least four houses, a church and a school in Wilson County about 3 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Thursday, NBC affiliate WITN reported.
While Debby produced less rain on Wednesday than the previous days, Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service warned that Thursday would be different.
“Moisture has pulsed back into Debby,” Bann said, noting that the storm picked up water as it spent the last day parked over the Atlantic Ocean. “As Debby makes its way inland … the threat of heavy rains will lead to flooding concerns.”
Bann said that by Friday, Debby would be dumping up to 4 inches of rain on Virginia up into Pennsylvania, where the ground in some patches was already soaked from other storms this week, heightening flooding concerns.
By the weekend, Debby could also produce rain of up to 4 inches in central New York state and into northern Vermont.
Debby was located about 30 miles (48 kms) north-northeast of Charleston and 60 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Moving northwest at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, it was expected to weaken during the next day or two, becoming a tropical depression by Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said.
At least six people have died in Florida and Georgia in the wake of the storm, which made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane and headed northeast.
Governors in the Carolinas, Florida and Georgia have declared states of emergency. The storm has left neighborhoods and communities under water, washing out streets and inundating homes across the region.
Four dams burst in Bulloch County, Georgia on Wednesday, about 50 miles northwest of Savannah, as a result of floodwaters, and officials warned that the Cypress Lake Dam was at risk of failure on Thursday morning.
That forced the evacuation of local residents after homes were flooded and roads made impassable as lakes and creeks overflowed, the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Emergency management officials were keeping a close watch as the rainwater drained into the numerous river systems in the Carolinas.
The National Water Prediction Service forecast that seven waterways would reach major flood levels before the weather event runs its course.
