August 6, 2024, Tropical Storm Debby floods Southeast after Florida hurricane hit | CNN (2024)

The yards of beachfront houses are flooded as Tropical Storm Debby moves to the North Atlantic, in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on August 6.

Tropical Storm Debby is wreaking havoc up and down the East Coast as it delivers torrential rains and dangerous flooding to South Carolina – even while helping drive another significant flood threat in the Northeast.

The slow-moving storm, which is currently hovering off the Georgia-South Carolina coast, will continue creating headaches for the rest of the week as it crawls northward.

Further north, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency in anticipation of transportation difficulties and power outages as Debby approaches.

Here’s what you need to know:

Residents repair their roof as high winds from an outer band from Tropical Storm Debby passed over the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on August 6.

A tornado watch along the Carolina coast has been extended until 1 am ET, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

More than 1 million people are under the tornado watch, including residents of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Tornado threats will persist through the week, and twisters have “likely occurred” in Edisto Beach, Kiawah Island, Moncks Corner, Lady’s Island, West Ashley and Isle of Palms, said John Quagliariello with the National Weather Service.

A cold front sweeping through the Northeast has tapped into tropical moisture associated with Debby and is bringing heavy rainfall to the New Jersey and Philadelphia areas.

Flash flood warnings are in effect across parts of the region, including in Philadelphia and parts of New Jersey, including Morristown and Trenton.

“Life-threatening flooding” is possible in Philadelphia, the National Weather Service said in its warning. Several roads have been flooded in the area, and 3 to 5 inches of rain has been reported, the agency said.

Newark has seen between 2 to 4.5 inches of rain and another inch is possible.

Parts of the New York City area were also under flash flood warnings earlier Tuesday evening, but those have since expired. New York City has seen 1.5 to 4.5 inches of rain and could see around another inch.

The bulk of the rainfall will move through the area over the next few hours. The flood watches will remain for New York and Philadelphia until Wednesday morning.

This post has been updated with the expired flash flood warnings for parts of New York City.

Earlier on Tuesday, a fire department in South Carolina’s Colleton County told residents the McGrady Dam had a “potential to fail” due to substantial flooding in the area. In an update at 8:00 p.m. local time, the department confirmed the dam has not failed.

In asocial media post Tuesday afternoon, the fire department had said “the dam is currently holding,” emphasizing its morning message was precautionary, and the dam was “not ‘expected to fail.’”

The dam is around 8 miles southwest of the city of Walterboro.

After making landfall in Florida as a hurricane on Monday, Tropical Storm Debby moved through southwestern Georgia. It’s now off the coast of the Atlantic near the Georgia-South Carolina border, and is expected to bring ‘catastrophic’ flooding in South Carolina.

Charleston has received a foot of water, prompting the mayor to extend the city’s curfew to Wednesday morning. In Georgia, a 19-year-old has died and multiple areas are facing power outages.

The storm is expected to make a second landfall in South Carolina on Thursday as it moves up the East Coast, dumping potentially historic levels of rain.

Workers clean up a manhole in a flooded street in Savannah, Georgia, on August 6.

A man is pulled by a golf cart through flood water in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on August 6.

A palm tree is reflected in a car's broken windshield in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on August 6.

Firefighters Ron Strauss, top, and Andrew Stevenson, below, carry food to residents stranded in flood water in Savannah's Tremont Park neighborhood on August 6.

A worker cleans debris from a possible tornado after an outer band from Tropical Storm Debby passed over the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, on August 6.

Power line crews come out to help people in Savannah, Georgia, on August 6.

A surfer comes out of the water after riding the waves created by Tropical Storm Debby near the Tybee pier, in Tybee Island, Georgia, August 6.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared astate of emergencyTuesday, anticipating transportation difficulties and power outages from Tropical StormDebby, his office said in a news release.

Though Debby’s exact track is uncertain, strong winds, heavy rains, storm surgeand severe flooding could hit the Commonwealth by Wednesday evening, the release said.

A truck sprays flood water n Charleston as Tropical Storm Debby approaches on Tuesday.

Charlestonhas receiveda foot of water from Tropical Storm Debby thus far, Mayor William Cogswell Jr. said in anews conference Tuesday night.

The city is projected to receive “a few more inches” before midnight. He added that a flash flood warning is still in effect until 10:30 p.m.

The city will keep the current curfew in place until at least 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, he added.

“I don’t want to have this in place any longer than we have to,” the mayor said. “I promise you that the purpose of this curfew is not to be annoying, is not to hurt businesses. It’s to keep people off the roads and prioritize the safety of our residents and our first responders while we still have a tropical storm sitting off our coast.”

As the center of Tropical Storm Debby approaches South Carolina, officials are anticipating more rain and flooding when the slow-moving storm reaches the state.

No fatalities nor injuries have been reported, Gov. Henry McMaster said at a Tuesday news conference, nor have any local evacuation orders been put in place.

Debby’s center is moving towards the state at 3 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. advisory, and the storm has been lashing the state with rain.John Quagliariello with the National Weather Service said there will likely be “catastrophic flash and urban flooding” with a local total of 25 inches of rainfall possible.

Rainfall “will remain the greatest concern,” Quagliariello emphasized Tuesday, noting rivers will also rise “significantly” and any resulting flooding could “last long-term, cutting off access to some communities.”

Tornado threats will also persist through the week, and twisters have “likely occurred” in Edisto Beach, Kiawah Island, Moncks Corner, Lady’s Island, West Ashley and Isle of Palms, Quagliariello said.It is not immediately clear whether the reported tornado at Edisto Beach has had an impact on any structures.

Kim Stenson with the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said Colleton County, in the southern part of the state, has preliminarily reported damage to about 50 homes.

There are over 12,000 storm related outages statewide as of Tuesday afternoon, and residents should be expecting more, according to Andrew Bateman of the state Office of Regulatory Staff.

The US Coast Guard in Charleston rescued an 82-year-old manTuesdayin a disabled sailboatduring Tropical Storm Debby, the agency said in arelease.

“Coast Guard Sector Charleston watchstanders received a notification at 7:45 a.m. from the insurance company of a 32-foot sailing vessel stating the owner needed to relocate his vessel to a safe haven but was unable to do so due to engine problems and difficulty raising the anchor on his own,” the release said.

The man also said the vessel had a large hole on the side and was taking on water.

The Coast Guard was able to help the man raise his vessel’s anchor and move it safely to the marina, according to the release.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

Debby swirls just off the coast near the Georgia-South Carolina border late Tuesday afternoon.

Radar and satellite imagery show the center of Tropical Storm Debby is now located just off the coast near the Georgia-South Carolina border.

Debby will track farther out over the Atlantic Ocean through Wednesday but remain within a few dozen miles of the US coastline.

Now back over warm ocean waters, Debby will strengthen a bit before turning to the north and heading for the South Carolina coast early Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm will unload additional rounds of heavy rain over the Southeast through at least Thursday.

People waiting in extreme heat to buy ice at Duplantier Ice Service in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 1, 2021, as power remained out in most of the city after Hurricane Ida ripped through the state.

When Hurricane Ida battered Louisiana with catastrophic flooding and powerful winds in August 2021,more than 1 million peoplelost power. Then came the heat wave.

Temperatures rose above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — a sucker punch to those sweltering in their homes, unable to turn on air conditioning as power outages stretched on for days.

It was the heat that proved deadliestin New Orleans, responsible forat least nineof the city’s 14 hurricane-related deaths.

The combination of a hurricane, heat wave and a multi-day power outage is a nightmare scenario, but it’s one set to become more common as humans continue to warm the planet, fueling devastating extreme weather. And it reveals an uncomfortable truth about the vulnerability of humanity’s ultimate protection against heat: Air conditioning.

Continue reading: Why your air conditioning can’t save you anymore.

Floridians are no strangers to hot, sticky heat, but it’s dangerous for the tens of thousands without power or a reliable way to cool off in the wake of Hurricane Debby.

More than 90,000 customers are still without power in the state as of Tuesday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us. A majority of these outages are in the northern part of the state where Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning.

Heat index values this afternoon have surged into the upper 90s and near triple digits in some spots in the outage area.

Afternoon highs will reach the low-to-mid-90s Wednesday and Thursday in much of the impacted area, so any prolonged outages would increase the danger of heat-related illnesses.

Read more about how heat kills.

Tropical Storm Debby has slowed down again and it’s about to leave land and move out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Debby’s forward speed slowed to just 5 mph, down from 6 mph earlier today, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm’s center is now less than 4 miles from the South Carolina coastline and should slip into the Atlantic in the next hour.

Once off the coast, Debby’s slower speed will give the storm more time to tap into warm ocean water and deep tropical moisture. It’ll strengthen and deliver additional rounds of flooding rainfall to the Southeast over the next 48 hours.

Debby has already dumped more than 1.5 feet of rain in Florida, more than 1 foot of rain in South Carolina and nearly 1 foot in Georgia.

Emergency responders had to come to the aid of a driver trapped in floodwaters in Jeff Davis County, in southeastern Georgia.

Rainfall totals from Debby are around 5 inches in the county.

Debby never made landfall or tracked over one of Debby’s hardest-hit areas: Sarasota, Florida.

More than 17 inches of rain fell over the area over a three-day period as the storm tracked parallel to the coast and its trailing rain bands deluged the city.

That’s the wettest three-day period on record for Sarasota and the second-highest rainfall total for a single town from the storm so far.

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Emergency responders conducted hundreds of rescues from flooded homes in the area and the leftover floodwaters are still evident in aerial video posted Tuesday morning from Florida Power & Light.

Water surrounds homes on one Sarasota street and is high enough that only the roofs of some cars are visible.

The utility said floodwaters were slowing down progress in restoring power, but only around 2,000 customers were still without power in Sarasota County by Tuesday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.

Video courtesy of Florida Power & Light

All eyes are on Debby, but the storm could be an appetizer of what’s to come as a predicted hyperactive hurricane season builds toward its climatological crescendo, with forecasters at Colorado State University calling for an abnormally active August in the Atlantic Ocean.

“We believe that the next two weeks will be quite active for Atlantic hurricane activity,” the forecasters wrote.

There’s an 85% chance of above-normal activity from August 6 to 19, according to the report.

Atmospheric conditions are forecast to become more favorable for development during this timeframe and forecast models are showing increased tropical activity across the area of the Atlantic where most tropical systems form, the report said. The Atlantic is already near record-warm in the region, providing ample food for any storms to feast on.

The National Hurricane Center is tracking a system that has a 30% chance of developing over the next 7 days in the western Caribbean or southwestern Gulf of Mexico as seen in the yellow shaded area.

The National Hurricane Center is already watching an area in the Caribbean and Southwestern Gulf of Mexico for potential tropical development over the next week. There’s currently a 30% chance that could happen.

The forecasters also released an update to their forecast for Atlantic hurricane season as a whole and are still calling for an “extremely active” season with 23 named storms, 12 hurricanes and 6 major hurricanes, including the storms that have already formed so far this year.

The warm water of the Atlantic and a burgeoning La Niña, which has a tendency to create more favorable conditions for storms, are the chief reasons behind the forecast.

Tropical activity typically starts to escalate in the back half of August and peaks in mid-September, so the next two weeks could be a warm up for weeks of activity to come.

Debby’s center is located just south of Savannah, Georgia, and is moving to the east-northeast at just 6 mph this morning. It will cross intothe Atlantic later today.

Once there, Debby will loiter just off the Georgia-South Carolina coast through Wednesday night. It’ll unload drenching rainfall over the Southeast and mid-Atlantic during this time.

The storm currently has sustained winds of 40 mph but will regain some strength midweek while back over the warm water of the Atlantic Ocean. But its proximity to land should limit its ability to strengthen enough to become a hurricane again.

Debby will start to move northward by Thursday and pick up speed along the way. It will then make its second landfall somewhere between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Debby will then track over land up the entire East Coast from Friday and beyond. The storm will likely lose enough strength to be a tropical depression by Saturday morning and remain that way through at least Sunday, when it reaches Maine.

Heavy, potentially flooding rainfall will remain Debby’s main threat as it sweeps up the East Coast later this week.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to residents and members of the media on Tuesday in Steinhatchee, Florida.

The storm that made landfall as Hurricane Debby is now out of Florida, but officialswarn residents that flooding from swollen rivers is far from over.

“We are bracing for more that’s going to happen in north-central Florida. There’s just a lot of water,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “When it dumps in southern Georgia, it makes its way down to us.”

Florida Division of Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie said some river flooding could continue “anywhere, depending on the river, from the next three days to the next two weeks.”

Power outages continue to plague some rural counties, with DeSantis noting that 99% of electric customers remain without power in Jefferson County.

Just a few dozen miles separate the locations getting the worst of Debby’s flooding rain and those only seeing a dreary summer day. It’s all due to where Debby’s center is located.

Debby is currently centered about 15 miles south of Savannah, Georgia. Rainfall near and up to about 40 miles from the storm’s center has been relatively light this morning. Rainfall rates in the area have been very low, only maxing out at a tenth-to-quarter inch of rain an hour.

Tropical Storm Debby brings rain to the Southeast Tuesday morning.

It’s a big change from Monday for Savannah, which was one of the 10 wettest days on record for the city. The 4.5 to 6.5 inches of rain that fell likely represented the wettest day from the storm.

Flooding and water rescues occurred in the city, but the area seemed to narrowly avoid the catastrophic flooding that could still unfold farther up the Southeast coast.

Despite the light nature of the rain today, steady periods of rain could still set up over the area once Debby moves off the coast late today and slows to a crawl Wednesday. Savannah could record up to an additional 4 inches of rain before Debby moves away from the area later this week.

Debby’s most intense rain bands are deluging areas anywhere from 90 to a few hundred miles away from its center. A stretch of South Carolina coastline from Charleston to Myrtle Beach was getting pounded by rainfall rates up to 2 to 3 inches per hour at times this morning.

Parts of the region have already recorded a foot of rain with plenty more to come.

A street is flooded in Charleston, South Carolina, on Tuesday.

Debby’s two-day deluge on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia is adding up.

Here are the highest rainfall reports from the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina, which covers coastal Georgia and South Carolina, including many of the areas facing down the most significant rain and flooding:

Georgia:

South Carolina:

Charleston Mayor William Cogswell speaks during a press conference on Tuesday.

Charleston Mayor William Cogswell announced Tuesday that he is extending a city-wide curfew amid heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby.

The curfew began at 11 p.m. Monday, ahead of the severe weather. The city has received eight inches of rain, Cogswell said at a news conference Tuesday morning, and officials expect three to six inches of rain over the next 12 to 14 hours.

City officials will reassess conditions around 7 a.m. Wednesday and decide whether to lift the curfew, Cogswell said.

Officers will maintain road closures throughout the city as the curfew continues and residents are urged not to drive around barricades, Charleston Police Chief Chito Walker said at the news conference.

“We especially don’t need any yahoos driving through the water and causing damage to property,” Cogswell said.

There were no overnight rescues required in Charleston, and no injuries to first responders or residents have been reported, he noted.

Rainfall is expected to lessen Wednesday, though winds will likely pick up and combined with the saturated grounds, there could be downed trees and power outages, Cogswell said.

Debby will have a hand in setting off a potentially significant flooding event in parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic today.

Multiple rounds of drenching storms could raise the risk of flooding for portions of Pennsylvania, New York, southern New England, Maryland, Delaware and all of New Jersey. The threat extends to multiple urban areas less able to cope with flooding, like New York City and Philadelphia.

A first round of storms will develop and move through Pennsylvania during the afternoon and end up in New Jersey by the evening. These storms could become severe and carry the risk of damaging wind, hail and even a tornado.

But a second round of storms later today into Wednesday morning will be what sends the flood threat soaring. A front is set to slow down and stall while draped over New Jersey and tap into tropical moisture surging north from Debby.

Rainfall in any storms that develop will be enhanced by this tropical moisture and 2 to 3 inches, potentially more, could fall in a short period of time, which could easily lead to flash flooding.

As a result, parts of eastern Pennsylvania, much of New Jersey and southern New York are under a level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall, according to the Weather Prediction Center.

“This event poses an elevated threat to life in some parts of the city, including significant disruptions to travel, flooded basem*nts & first floors of residents and businesses, and underground infrastructure,” the New York City Emergency Management Office warned.

A travel advisory is in effect for New York City Tuesday and Wednesday because of the flood threat.

Additional heavy rainfall for the regions, this time directly from Debby, is possible this weekend.

Gov. Brian Kemp spoke to the media today from the emergency management agency.

Here are the key takeaways from his update:

In this screen grab from video, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks to members of the press about Tropical Storm Debby, in Atlanta, on August 6.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has asked Georgians in Debby’s path to stay vigilant as the tropical storm continues to sweep through the state.

The governor added that currently a lot of areas are “not experiencing rain and high winds, but both models are showing that rain will come back potentially in the worst case scenario, in a big way. Give us time to clear roads, get power crews in, help with any emergency efforts that we need to do.”

The governor asked locals to allow emergency workers to do their work to the best of their ability as the state works to restore power to customers.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is speaking from the Emergency Management headquarters.

We’ll bring you the latest updates as we get them.

Satellite water vapor imagery shows abundant moisture (blue and green) directed at the South Carolina coast Tuesday morning.

Debby is unloading a firehose of moisture right at the South Carolina coast and Charleston is in the thick of it. In the last six hours, 3 to 4 inches of rain have deluged the city, and plenty more is on the way.

In total, the city could end up with 20 to 30 inches of rain by the time Debby is done deluging the area this week. More than 8 inches of rain — more than a month’s worth — have already fallen in the city.

Roadways flooded Monday and issues persisted Tuesday. Charleston is under a flash flood warning until 12:30 p.m. ET, according to the National Weather Service.

Flooding is likely to get much worse.

Both the sheer amount of rain forecast and how quickly it’s falling is more than enough to overwhelm the city’s drainage system.

Just 1 inch of rain falling over a square mile produces more than 17 million gallons of water. According to the city’s stormwater management agency, the system is “completely overwhelmed” if rain runoff flows into the drainage system at a rate of 60 gallons per second.

The city floods quite easily — even when not facing down a prolific rainmaker — because it is low, flat and borders the ocean. Rain simply doesn’t have many natural avenues to drain away, so water pumps are a crucial point of the drainage infrastructure.

Charleston officials worked to install temporary water pumps in “vulnerable areas” and cleaned out storm drains in advance of the rain in an attempt to minimize flooding impacts, according to a Saturday press release.

A dam in rural Colleton County, South Carolina, “has the potential to fail,” according to the local fire department, and nearby residents are being told to leave the area.

State records show the privately-owned dam wascitedin 2016 as appearing to be “unsafe and a potential danger to property.” The U.S. Army Corps of EngineerslistedMcGrady Dam as being in “unsatisfactory” condition following its most recent inspectionin 2022.

Tropical StormDebby is expected to bring widespread flooding in South Carolina this week.

An electrical worker addresses downed power lines following tropical storm Isaias, in Fort Salonga, New York, in August 2020.

The US Energy Department is pouring $2 billion into America’s aging electrical grid to add more power capacity and make it more resilient against extreme weather

The news comes as around 150,000 customers are without power in the Southeast as Tropical Storm Debby lashes Florida, Georgia and South Carolina with strong winds and torrential rain.

Upgrading and adding to America’s aging electrical infrastructure is critical, as the grid gets buffeted by extreme weather and sees increased demand from things like data centers, AI, and electric vehicles.

The funding will go toward eight projects, including two major new transmission lines — one in New York and another crossing parts of Montana and North Dakota. The remaining six projects will focus on upgrading and modernizing existing grids in the West and New England, aiming to cut down on outages and connect New England’s grid to offshore wind that’s currently under development.

The Savannah Fire Department assists people in a rescue of a stranded vehicle on a flooded street in Savannah, on August 5.

In Georgia, Savannah Fire Rescue has conducted18 waters rescuessince the beginning of the operation yesterday, according to Neil Penttila with Public Safety.

The Fire Rescue operations responded to106 calls through 911 and the Savannah Police Department responded to another 881 calls to the emergency number.

Debby made landfall at a hurricane in the Big Bend area of Floridaon Mondaymorning before moving toward the Georgia coast.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said Monday that he was “terrified” as the coastal city prepared for “a night of extensive raining and flooding.”

The Georgia Governor Brian Kemp will address the media at 0915 ET, we’ll bring you the latest updates as we get them here.

The driver of a stranded vehicle pushes his van out of a flooded street after heavy rain from Tropical Storm Debby, in Savannah, on August 5.

Tropical Storm Debby has already brought significant rainfall totals to southeastern Georgia and South Carolina, with several more days to go as the storm lingers offshore.

Savannah has totaled 8.51 inches of rain in just 24 hours, well more than the August average of 5.46 inches, according to National Weather Service data.

Similarly, Charleston, South Carolina, has picked up 7.57 inches in 24 hours through 8 a.m. Tuesday. This is also more than its average August rainfall of 6.97 inches. August is traditionally the rainiest month in Charleston.

Rainfall is expected to continue over the next few days with storm totals up to 20 to 25 inches.

A tornado watch has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center for more than 1.9 million people in coastal South Carolina and North Carolina until 5 p.m. ET.

It includes Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

“Instability will be greatest near the coast, supporting occasional supercells with a tornado threat,” the SPC warned.

Debby produced least two tornadoes in portions of South Carolina Monday night. The first moved through Edisto Beach — 50 miles southwest of Charleston — and the second moved through Seabrook Island — about 25 miles southwest of Charleston.

In total, there have been at least 12 tornado reports in Florida and South Carolina since Sunday.

Damaged trucks are seen in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, on Tuesday.

Damage was reported in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, early Tuesday after a possible tornado spawned by Tropical Storm Debby moved through the area, officials said.

Berkeley County Emergency Management reported the possible tornado just before 3 a.m., the National Weather Service in Charleston said.

An Arby’s restaurant took the brunt of the damage, with several windows blown out, Moncks Corner Mayor Thomas Hamilton Jr. told CNN. In addition to downed power poles, several cars were flipped over, he said.

The only reported injuries have been minor cuts and scrapes, but nothing that required medical attention, the mayor added.

Town employees, including the fire department, are working “hurricane shifts” during the storm to make sure they’re able to respond quickly, if needed, Hamilton said.

Berkeley County has opened emergency shelters for residents ahead of expected historic flooding in the area this week.

Tornadoes were confirmed Monday night in the South Carolina cities of Edisto Beach and Seabrook Island.

Vehicles drives through a flooded street caused by rain from Tropical Storm Debby in Savannah, Georgia on August 5.

Debby made landfall as a hurricane in the Big Bend of Floridaon Mondaymorning and has now crossed into Georgia.

For the next few days, Debby — now a tropical storm — is expected to dump potentially historic levels of rain and bring catastrophic flooding.

Van Johnson, the mayor of coastal Savannah, Georgia, said he is “terrified” as the city braces for “a night of extensive raining and flooding” — an event he believes could be catastrophic for the city.

Here’s what to know about the storm :

Two tornadoes have been confirmed so far in South Carolina’s Edisto Beach and Seabrook Island as Tropical Storm Debby brings heavy rainfall and gusty winds to parts of the state.

No injuries have been reported from either tornado.

Edisto Beach — about 50 miles southwest of Charleston — experienced a tornado at around 9:47 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service. The storm left downed powerlines and damaged properties in its wake.

Another tornado tore through Seabrook Island — about 25 miles southwest of Charleston — at around 11 p.m. Monday.

Survey teams will evaluate the tornados’ intensities and paths in the coming days. The National Weather Service in Charleston will wait to send survey teams until Debby has left the region.

Workers move sandbags as Tropical StormDebbymoves towardsGeorgia, in Savannah,Georgia, U.S., on August 5.

A string of storm watches and warnings has been issued for Debby’s forecasted path through Florida, Georgia and South Carolina this week.

As the storm treks across the Southeast, it is expected to bring heavy rainfall, gusty winds and isolated tornadoes. Flooding is also a major concern as the slow-moving storm hovers over some areas, potentially dumping torrential rainfall.

Here’s how several cities are expected to be impacted:

Jacksonville, Florida

Savannah, Georgia

Charleston, South Carolina

Raleigh, North Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center has extended the tornado watch for the greater Charleston area in South Carolina until 7 a.m., as bands from Tropical Storm Debby continue to bring the threat of tornadoes to the region.

The total population under a tornado watch exceeds 1 million people.

A person paddles a kayak through a flooded street inSarasota, Florida, on August 5, as seen in a screen grab obtained from a video shared on social media.

A weather station at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in Florida recorded 11.06 inches of rain on Sunday, shattering the area’s record for total rainfall seen in a single day.

The previous record for a single day’s rainfall was 10.80 inches, set on June 23, 1945.

Sunday’s rainfall also broke the daily record for August 4, of 2.13 inches, set in 1969.

The airport’s station has recorded a storm total of 12.56 inches of rainfall from Debby, which is greater than its August average of 9.11 inches.

This post was updated to correct the day the record was set.

More than 174,000 homes and businesses are without power in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina as Tropical Storm Debby pummels the region, according to PowerOutage.us.

Floridians in the Big Bend — where Debby made landfall Monday as a Category 1 hurricane — are suffering the vast majority of outages. About 134,000 energy customers in the state are in the dark.

Though Georgia and South Carolina have yet to see such widespread energy impacts, outages there are likely to increase as the storm rumbles across the states in the coming days.

Houses and streets are flooded asDebbypounds the gulf coast in Suwannee,Florida, on August 5.

Several more days of torrential rain and hazardous storm conditions are in store for the southeast US as Tropical Storm Debby crawls across the region.

Debby has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and its center is about 60 miles north-northwest of Jacksonville, Florida, according to an 11 p.m. ET update from the National Hurricane Center.

The storm will slowly move east through Georgia overnight and is expected to move offshore by Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, Debby is expected to turn northward and could strengthen before moving towards South Carolina on Thursday.

Debby could make landfall in South Carolina on Thursday evening before marching into North Carolina on Friday.

Due to Debby’s sluggish nature, some areas could be drenched by potentially historic rainfall totals of 10-20 inches, with isolated amounts of up to 30 inches.

Catastrophic flooding is a significant concern across portions of eastern Georgia, the coastal plain of South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina. Central Florida is still not out of the woods: up to 4 more inches of rain could fall, bringing more flooding to already soaked communties.

Watches and warnings stretch along Deby’s anticipated path:

Joe Biden speaks in Washington, DC, US, on August 1.

President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration request from Georgia to mobilize relief as the state is battered by Tropical Storm Debby.

More than 50 counties have been approved to receive federal funding for measures such as evacuation and shelter support, according to the release.

A resident walks through rising flood waters in Savannah, Georgia, as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Debby caused widespread flooding on Monday, August 5.

Van Johnson, the mayor of coastal Savannah, Georgia, said he is “terrified” as the city braces for “a night of extensive raining and flooding” brought by Tropical Storm Debby – an event he believes could be catastrophic for the city.

The storm is forecast to be “absolutely unprecedented” for the area, the mayor said, noting severe flooding is the biggest concern.

“Parts of this city will be underwater days from now,” Johnson said, adding, “I’ve been doing storms around here for 30 years and I’ve not experienced anything forecasted like this is. We’ve been in the eye of a storm and we have not experienced this.”

The city has implemented a curfew from 10 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday. But the mayor fears people will not take the storm seriously and try to venture outside, putting themselves and first responders in danger.

Twenty-fivepackages of cocaine weighing about 70 pounds washed ashore along on a beach in Islamorada, Florida, on Sunday, according to a social media post from US Customs and Border Patrol.

According to the agency in Miami, a good samaritan discovered the drugs and alerted authorities. The cocaine has a street value of more than $1 million dollars.

Samuel Briggs, the acting chief patrol agent of the US Border Patrol Miami Sectorshared a photo of the packages in a post on X.

Islamorada is in the Florida Keys about 80 miles from Key West.

Tropical Storm Debby is expected to bring torrential, flooding rainfall on Tuesday, spreading over large portions of southern Georgia.

The storm has crossed into Georgia and is expected to move slowly through the southeastern part of the state until its center emerges over the Atlantic around mid-afternoon Tuesday.

Debby could slow down to walking speed by Tuesday night and stall just off the coast of South Carolina through at least Thursday morning. Torrential rainfall could pound parts of Georgia and the Carolinas during this time — especially coastal South Carolina.

Another landfall is possible sometime Thursday as Debby moves north over the South Carolina coast and then pushes into central North Carolina on Friday. Debby will likely lose strength quickly once it moves back over land later this week and become a tropical depression.

Debby could unload up to 30 inches of rain on parts of South Carolina through Friday night and more than a foot of rain from northern Florida to southeastern North Carolina.

Follow Debby’s path with this interactive tracker.

Debby’s forward speed is expected to slow so dramatically that an average person could walk faster than it.

Debby is forecast to only travel a distance of less than 200 miles — from southeastern Georgia to the South Carolina coast — in about 60 hours from Tuesday morning to Thursday afternoon.

That means the storm’s average pace would be around 3 mph for 2.5 days, which is slower than an average adult can walk,research has found.

This slow movement is the reason for thedire rainfall and flooding forecastsfor the region.

Chatham County employees dump a truck load of sand for residents to use in sandbag as they prepare for Hurricane Debby, in Savannah, Georgia on August 5.

Hurricane survivors returning to damaged houses face a torrent of challenges – if they’re lucky enough to have a home at all.

Flooding. Mold damage. Insurance headaches. Deadly hidden hazards.

The onslaught of mental anguish and post-hurricane dangers can seem overwhelming. Here’s how victims can stay safe, get help and take the first steps toward recovery:

Just because the hurricane is over doesn’t mean it’s safe to drive.

Residents should “return home only when local officials say it is safe to do so,” theFederal Emergency Management Agencysays.

If you see a flooded road, officials stress a life-saving but often ignored mantra: “Turn around, don’t drown.”

Every year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other thunderstorm-related hazard, the National Weather Service says.

When it’s safe to go home, try toarrive during daytime hoursso you don’t need any lights, the CDC says. You might not have power in the area.

Once you get there, “Walk carefully around the outside of your home to check for loose power lines, gas leaks, and structural damage,” the National Weather Service says.

If your home is flooded, “wait to re-enter your home until professionals tell you it is safe, with no structural, electrical or other hazards,” the CDC says.

Flooded homes require additional precautions to prevent electrocution.

“If you have standing water in your home and can turn off the main power from a dry location, then go ahead and turn off the power,”the CDC says.

Read more about how to recover from a hurricane or tropical storm.