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Debby crawls near Georgia coast, bringing deluge and flooding threat
Nearly 120,000 were without power in Florida as of Aug. 6 morning, according to poweroutage.us, down from a peak of 350,000. Hundreds of flights to and from the state were canceled.
A view of a flooded street due to storm Debby, which made landfall as a hurricane before being downgraded to a tropical storm, in Holmes Beach, Florida, U.S., August 5, 2024, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. / @ErnieVanderwalt via X/via REUTERS/File Photo
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Debby threatened to drop historic amounts of rain and produce dangerous ocean surges in Georgia and the Carolinas on Aug.6 as it crawled toward the Atlantic, a day after crashing ashore in Florida's Gulf Coast as a hurricane, killing at least six people.
Between 10 inches (25 cm) to 20 inches (51 cm) of rain was expected to fall along parts of the Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina coasts through Aug.2 and cause catastrophic flooding, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm was carrying 45 mph (72 kph) winds as it moved slowly just south of Savannah, Georgia, early on Aug.6 morning. Heavy rainfall could cause flooding in parts of the mid-Atlantic through Sunday, the center said.
Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in the Big Bend region of Florida's Gulf Coast on Aug.5 morning, dumping eight to 16 inches of rain in parts of central Florida, according to local reports. The storm has been blamed for five deaths in Florida and one near Valdosta, Georgia.
The center of slow-moving Tropical Storm #Debby will remain in or just off the coast of South Carolina through Thursday. This will give ample opportunity to drop a LOT of rain there and through a good portion of North Carolina. The historic heavy rainfall will likely result in… pic.twitter.com/7BTX92N9x9
— National Weather Service (@NWS) August 6, 2024
Nearly 120,000 were without power in Florida as of Aug.6 morning, according to poweroutage.us, down from a peak of 350,000. Hundreds of flights to and from the state were canceled.
Weather conditions could spawn tornadoes as well, according to the NHC. Cars were flipped and restaurants were damaged in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, early Tuesday morning by a suspected tornado, WCSC-TV reported. Mayor Thomas Hamilton Jr. said there were minor injuries.
The hurricane center said Debby would slow down and move east and off Georgia's shore on Aug. 6 before turning north and drifting inland over South Carolina near Charleston on Aug.8.
Vice President Kamala Harris postponed a presidential campaign stop scheduled this week in Savannah, the Savannah Morning News reported.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said the city could expect a "once in a thousand year" rain event.
"This will literally create islands in the city," Johnson said.
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