CHARLESTON, SC — CHARLESTON, SC (AP) — Tropical Storm Debby takes a breather over the western Atlantic Ocean, but is not yet finished inundating coastal areas of the Carolinas, before the storm slowly moves north.
Debby was expected to turn north toward the South Carolina coastline late Wednesday night for a second landfall, weather officials said Tuesday night. The storm brought with it not only the threat of additional rainfall, but also tornadoes in coastal areas of the Carolinas that spread northward into southeastern Virginia on Thursday.
The slow-moving storm swamped coastal cities in Georgia and South Carolina late Monday into Tuesday, spawning tornadoes and flooding streets with waist-high floodwaters. The storm has already dropped more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain in some places and could dump staggering rainfall totals of up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) in some places by the time it passes.
Charleston and Savannah, Georgia, were inundated with curfews and police blocking roads on Tuesday. Dozens of roads were closed in the city of Charleston due to flooding similar to what it sees several times a year due to rising sea level.
As Debby circles just offshore, heavy rains are expected to reach parts of South and North Carolina that have already seen two billion-dollar floods in eight years.
In one Savannah neighborhood, firefighters used boats to evacuate residents and waded through floodwaters to deliver bottled water and other supplies to those who refused to leave.
Michael Jones said water poured into his home Monday night, knocking over his refrigerator and floating furniture. Outside, the water seemed to be everywhere and was too deep to safely escape. So Jones spent a sleepless night on his kitchen table before firefighters, going door to door, arrived in a boat Tuesday morning.
“It was hell all night,” Jones said.
Charleston Mayor William Cogswell said the road closures prevented unnecessary damage to businesses and homes and no rescues were needed because of high water.
“We really don’t need idiots driving through water and causing property damage,” Cogswell said.
As much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain was expected in some spots in the Carolinas, an amount close to what the region saw during historic flooding from Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Two years later, many of those records were broken by Hurricane Florence. Both storms claimed dozens of lives.
North Carolina and Virginia have both declared states of emergency.
“The impact of Debby is far-reaching and our neighboring states face significant challenges,” said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Several areas along the North Carolina coastline are prone to floodingsuch as Wilmington and the Outer Banks. Virginia could experience impacts including strong winds, heavy rainfall and flooding.
Debby’s center was more than 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Savannah on Tuesday evening, according to a bulletin from the National Hurricane Center. Maximum sustained winds were 40 mph (65 km/h) and winds were 5 mph (8 km/h) to the east.
“Tropical cyclones always produce heavy rainfall, but normally it doesn’t accumulate that much in one place as they move,” said Richard Pasch of the hurricane center. “But when they move very slowly, that’s the worst situation.”
There will be quiet periods in the rain, while dry periods will appear between the bands around the center of the poorly organized storm, meteorologists said. But some bands will be heavy and will continue to move over the same spots.
Green Pond in rural Colleton County, South Carolina, reported the most rain so far, just over 14 inches (36 centimeters). A nearby dam had water overflowing but not collapsing, while trees and washed-out debris blocked some roads, said David Greene, assistant chief of the county fire department.
Nearly a foot (30 centimeters) fell along the coast from Charleston to Savannah, where the National Weather Service reported 6.68 inches (17 centimeters) on Monday alone. That’s a month’s worth of rain in one day: In all of August 2023, the city got 5.56 inches (14.1 centimeters).
Tornadoes downed trees and damaged several homes on Kiawah Island and Edisto Island.
Crooked Hammock Brewery in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has decided to close early on Tuesday.
“Flash floods are very unpredictable and we want our staff and guests to be home and safe,” said Marketing Coordinator Georgena Dimitriadis.
Far north in New York City, severe storms that meteorologists said were intensified by Debby flooded some streets and highways, leaving motorists stranded. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning through Wednesday afternoon.
Emergency services warned of possible flooding, flying drones using loudspeakers in some New York City neighborhoods to warn people in basement apartments to be ready to flee at any moment.
Debby made landfall early Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane along the Gulf Coast of Florida.
At least six people have died in the storm, five of them from traffic accidents or fallen trees. The sixth death was a 48-year-old man in Gulfport, Florida, whose body was recovered after his anchored sailboat partially sank, WTSP-TV reported.
About 500 people were rescued from flooded homes in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday, police said. Just north of Sarasota, Manatee County officials said more than 200 people were rescued.
Officials say it could take up to two weeks to fully assess damage in parts of north-central Florida as they wait for rivers to rise.
“You’re going to see the tributaries rise. It’s just inevitable. How much? We’ll see,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. “It could be that it’s not flooded today and it could be flooded tomorrow.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also warned of more rain and flooding, saying, “Don’t let this storm lull you to sleep.”
President Joe Biden has declared a national emergency, allowing Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to receive federal disaster aid.
Debby is expected to finally gain strength on Thursday, moving across central North Carolina, through Virginia, and into the Washington region on Saturday.
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Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Contributors include Jeff Martin and Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta; Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida; and Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut; Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington; and freelance photographer Stephen B. Morton in Savannah, Georgia.