Tropical Storm Debby expected to unleash historic flooding
CHARLESTON, S.C. (CNN, KYMA/KECY) - After making landfall as a hurricane, Debby remains a tropical storm and is expected to unleash potentially historic rainfall in Georgia and South Carolina, and a big concern with all of that rain: Catastrophic flooding.
"We are at basically zero sea level, and we are anticipating unprecedented amounts of rainfall. When you couple that with potential storm surges and just again the level of rainfall, we're going to have some real issues here," said William Cogswell, Mayor of Charleston.
Cogswell says with Tropical Storm Debby moving slowly along the coastline, it could lead to endless amounts of rain for days. The heaviest rain amounts could even top 30 inches or more, depending on Debby's speed.
"If there's as much rain as forcasted, downtown is quite a charm. Doesn't take much to put it under water," said Michael Kugler, a Charleston resident.
In order to prepare, people headed to sandbag locations across the city.
"The biggest thing is just making sure there's safety water, plenty of food, and right now, trying to make sure the water doesnt go under my house," said one Charleston resident.
The city says 49,000 sandbags were distributed, resulting in people needing to bring their own bags.
As Debby arrives, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Charleston warned of numerous flooded homes, structures, damage to roadways and flooding along smaller creeks and streams.
"We are asking, of course, for people to stay home, to prepare their properties. We do not want people going out once the storm really hits," Cogswell expressed.
