Islamabad, Aug 6: Tropical Storm Debby threatened to drop historic quantities of rain and generate hazardous ocean surges in Georgia and the Carolinas on Tuesday as it limped 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) and 20 inches (51 cm) of rain was forecast to fall along sections of the Georgia,South Carolina and North Carolina beaches through Friday and create catastrophic flooding, the National Hurricane Center predicted.
The storm was packing 45 mph (72 kph) gusts as it approached slowly just south of Savannah, Georgia, early on Tuesday morning. According to the center, flooding may occur in some areas of the mid-Atlantic through Sunday due to heavy rainfall. Eight to sixteen inches of rain fell in certain areas of central Florida on Monday morning when Debby, a Category 1 storm, made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast, according to local reports. Five fatalities in Florida and one close to Valdosta, Georgia, have been attributed to the hurricane.
Poweroutage.us reports that as of Tuesday morning, almost 120,000 people in Florida remained without power, down from a peak of 350,000 on Monday. There were hundreds of canceled flights to and from the state. The NHC states that certain weather conditions may also give rise to tornadoes. A possible tornado caused damage to restaurants and flipped cars in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, early on Tuesday morning, according to WCSC-TV. According to Mayor Thomas Hamilton Jr., there were only minor wounds.
Vice President Kamala Harris canceled her planned presidential campaign stop in Savannah this week, according to the Savannah Morning News, and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson warned of a “once in a thousand year” rainfall event. According to the hurricane center, Debby would slow down and move east and off Georgia’s coast on Tuesday before turning north and drifting inland over South Carolina near Charleston on Thursday.
