Tropical Storm Debby has moved into the U.S. Southeast with what are likely to be long torrential downpours and flooding after raking Florida with heavy rain and high winds.
The storm killed at least five people on Monday and is causing flash flooding in historic Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, as well as elsewhere on the Southeast’s Atlantic Coast. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson told residents to expect a rough day Tuesday. Debby made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane.
Although Debby was classified as a Category 1, which is based on wind speeds, meteorologists say it’s the storm’s rainfall capacity that makes it extremely dangerous.
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Savannah escapes major flooding — so far
In Savannah, Georgia, the steady, soaking rainfall eased, at least temporarily, by late morning Tuesday as the storm’s center reached the Georgia coast.
Local officials reported no major flooding in Savannah and surrounding Chatham County. Streets that had flooded during downpours Monday evening were mostly clear. With many offices and businesses closed, residents jogged and walked their dogs.
Still, the forecast called for more rain, some of it heavy, in Savannah in the coming days as Debby crawls or even stalls offshore. The National Weather Service reported 6.68 inches (16.96 centimeters) of rainfall in Savannah on Monday. That’s more rain than Georgia’s oldest city saw in all of August last year.
Latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center
The center of Tropical Storm Debby is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Savannah, Georgia, and moving east-northeast at near 6 mph (9 kph), the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday in its 11 a.m. advisory.
Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts. Tropical-storm force winds of at least 39 mph (63 kph) extend outward over 200 miles (330 kilometers) from the center.
Debby’s center is expected to move off the Georgia coast later Tuesday, then move back inland over South Carolina on Thursday, the center said.
Charleston extends curfew and tells ‘yahoos’ to stay off roads
The peninsula that makes up much of the downtown and older, historic parts of Charleston, South Carolina, will remain closed Tuesday as Tropical Storm Debby spins nearby, Mayor William Cogswell said.
Police have barricaded all eight roads into the peninsula and let only essential workers and emergency personnel in or out since 11 p.m. Monday. The barriers will remain in place until at least Wednesday morning.
“We especially don’t need any yahoos driving through the water and causing damage to properties,” Cogswell said.
Attention now turns to Debby moving offshore, perhaps strengthening and sending stronger winds onshore, causing power outages and some tidal flooding Wednesday into Thursday.
Georgia governor tells residents to stay vigilant
At a news conference Tuesday at Georgia’s emergency management center in Atlanta, Gov. Brian Kemp urged residents in the storm area to remain vigilant and stay off roads. “Do not let this storm lull you to sleep,” he said.
Kemp said that in the best case, the storm area will get another 4 or 5 inches (10 or 12.7 centimeters) of rain. But he warned that another model showed the storm stalling and moving back into Georgia, dumping as much as 9 additional inches (22.9 centimeters) of rain.
Still, State Meteorologist Will Lanxton said the possibility of catastrophic flooding is much less likely.
Debby brings flooding, tornadoes to South Carolina
South Carolina is bracing for days of rain through Thursday from Tropical Storm Debby. It already spawned tornadoes and caused flooding Tuesday in areas along the state’s coast.
The tornadoes toppled trees and damaged a few homes on Kiawah Island and Edisto Island between Savannah and Charleston. A Walmart, an Applebee’s and other businesses were damaged, and several vehicles flipped in Moncks Corner, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) inland from Charleston.
Radar estimated more than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain fell between Hilton Head Island and Charleston overnight. There were local reports of flooding, including parts of downtown Charleston that often flood, but no widespread damage.
Some forecasts indicate Debby could bring 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain to rural areas of North and South Carolina that were devastated by floods in Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018. Each caused over $1 billion in damage and killed dozens.
More than 155,000 customers lacked power in Florida and Georgia on Tuesday morning, down from a peak of more than 350,000, according to PowerOutage.us and Georgia Electric Membership Corp.
Biden approves Georgia disaster declaration
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for much of Georgia, making disaster assistance available for the effects of Hurricane Debby, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday.
The declaration authorizes FEMA to mobilize equipment and other resources to protect lives, property and public health, including coordinating evacuations and shelters.
Charleston’s geography creates a special threat
Much of South Carolina’s historic Charleston peninsula lies on low marshland filled in over the years by dirt and debris.
With the Ashley and Cooper rivers on either side, the city of about 155,000 is hard to drain, especially during high tide or when the winds blow onshore from the Atlantic Ocean. Rising sea levels have made it harder, with water covering streets more than twice a month now — even without a storm like Debby looming.
The rivers and deep port have been critical to Charleston since its founding in 1670.
The city’s emergency plan includes sandbags for residents, opening parking garages so residents can park their cars above floodwaters, and an online mapping system that shows which roads are closed by flooding.
Debby still getting energy from ocean water, expert says
Debby has weakened over land because tropical cyclones derive their energy from warm water, but part of the circulation was still interacting Tuesday with water over the Atlantic, said Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center.
The storm’s center is expected to move out over the water off the Georgia and South Carolina coast, then move back inland, so it could restrengthen, but it’s not clear how much, he said.
Tropical storm warnings were posted from northeastern Florida up into North Carolina, and very heavy rain is expected, leading to catastrophic flooding across parts of southeastern Georgia, the eastern half of South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina through Friday, he said.
“Tropical cyclones always produce heavy rain, but normally as they’re moving, you know, it doesn’t accumulate that much in one place,” he said. “But when they move very slowly, that’s the worst situation.”
Charleston ready with sandbags, parking garages
Debby’s center was over southeastern Georgia early Tuesday with maximum sustained winds near 45 mph (75 kph), and it was moving northeast near 7 mph (11 kph). The center is expected to move off Georgia’s coast later Tuesday. Some strengthening is forecast on Wednesday and Thursday as Debby drifts offshore, before it moves inland over South Carolina on Thursday.
The emergency plan in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, includes sandbags for residents, opening parking garages so residents can park their cars above floodwaters, and an online mapping system that shows which roads are closed by flooding.
Hundreds rescued from flooded homes in Sarasota, Florida, area, officials say
About 500 people were rescued from flooded homes in Sarasota, Florida, a beach city popular with tourists, the Sarasota Police Department said Monday in a social media post.
“Essentially we’ve had twice the amount of the rain that was predicted for us to have,” Sarasota County Fire Chief David Rathbun said in a social media update.
Just north of Sarasota, officials in Manatee County said in a news release that 186 people were rescued from flood waters.
“We are facing an unprecedented weather event with Hurricane Debby,” said Jodie Fiske, Manatee County’s public safety director. “The safety of our residents is our top priority, and we are doing everything in our power to respond effectively to this crisis.”
Man killed when storm topples large tree onto home in south Georgia, officials say
Heavy winds and rain associated with Debby toppled a large tree onto a porch at a home in south Georgia, killing a 19-year-old man, authorities said Monday.
Colquitt County Coroner C. Verlyn Brock said the man died at the home in the city of Moultrie, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Valdosta, Georgia, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
The storm has damaged roofs and downed power lines in Moultrie, Police Chief Chad Castleberry told WALB-TV.
The National Hurricane Center said Debby had top winds near 45 mph (75 kph) Monday evening as it moved slowly to the northeast. It was expected to cross southeastern Georgia and to slow to a crawl as it turns eastward.
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