Tropical Storm Debby prompts Gov. Roy Cooper to declare State of Emergency for North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- To find the latest information about Debby's forecast and impact on North Carolina, click here.
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The ABC11 First Alert Weather Team is tracking the tropics and central North Carolina is in the path of a tropical system this week.
The National Hurricane Center downgraded Debby back to a Tropical Storm on Monday morning after the storm made landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane. The storm is being blamed for four deaths so far in Florida. One of them happened when a tree fell onto a mobile home, killing a13-year-old boy. The other three deaths were all traffic-related.
Debby is the fourth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Alberto, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Chris, all of which formed in June.
As Debby slowly approaches, central North Carolina will experience rounds of rain and increasingly gusty winds Tuesday through Friday. There's already a high risk of flooding in areas that have experienced rain in the past few weeks.
Beach erosion is also expected at the coast.
A flood watch kicks into effect Tuesday night and runs through Friday evening.
Storm totals could be 8 to 12 inches in the Sandhills and the Triangle could see 6 to 9 inches by Friday night.
The National Hurricane Center said Debby had top winds near 45 mph at 11 p.m. Monday as it moved slowly to the northeast. It was expected to cross southeastern Georgia and to slow to a crawl as it turned eastward.
State agencies are already preparing for the storm and its impact on the state. Gov. Roy Cooper declared a State of Emergency ahead of the storm -- a move that activates state emergency plans in various industries.
"This weather has the potential to bring intense rain and flooding to North Carolina and we are preparing for it," Cooper said. "As the weather becomes more severe, I urge everyone to take precautions and stay safe."
Flooding and power outages are expected to start Tuesday and continue through the rest of the week, according to North Carolina Emergency Management officials.
WATCH: Special Debby edition of The Weather Show
The City of Raleigh announced on Sunday that it started lowering Lake Johnson in anticipation of the heavy rainfall from the storm system.
In Wake County, preparations for Debbie are underway in a community still cleaning up from a natural disaster. In the Woodlands community in Garner - which was rocked by an EF-1 tornado in December - several residents said they're bracing for this week's expected rainfall.
Janice Hedgepeth said the memory of that vicious storm in December is still vivid.
"Everything was everywhere. And we thought, you know, maybe that was it. A few limbs and stuff. But as we walked around and looked around, neighbor's roofs were gone. It was it was horrible," she said.
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Hedgepeth, who's lived in the community for three decades, said she's endured several hurricanes and always tries to stay stocked with supplies.
"Ever since we went through Fran, we always take preparations. We always have water and batteries and things like that," she said.
Meantime, hardware and home improvement stores in the area are already stocking up on supplies to help with possible flooding and power outages.
"It's mostly getting things out that they would need before a storm, and making sure we're ready if anything bad does happen," said Brian Edwards, store manager at Lowe's in Garner.
Edwards and his team helped in the cleanup effort in the Woodlands neighborhood last year, and he said they're prepared to do the same should flooding or damage occur in the area.
"We'll get together a team and we'll see where we're needed and what we can do. And, you know, any kind of labor or anything we can do to help out the people around here is what we're going to do," he said.
Storm Path
Debby is expected to move eastward over northern Florida and then stall over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina, thrashing the region with potential record-setting rains totaling up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) beginning Tuesday.
"There's some really amazing rainfall totals being forecast and amazing in a bad way," Michael Brennan, director of the hurricane center, said at a briefing. "That would be record-breaking rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we got up to the 30-inch level."
Flooding could last through Friday and is expected to be especially severe in low-lying areas near the coast, including Savannah, Georgia; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina.
North Carolina officials are also monitoring the storm's progress, as it could turn north after tracking along the South Carolina coast. That change in direction would send the system right through the heart of the Tar Heel state.
Forecasters say Debby's biggest effects could be as much as 30 inches of rain in localized areas throughout South Carolina, causing floodwaters to rise quickly in small areas.
"This storm may not have the high winds of a hurricane, but it has the potential to cause life-threatening floods across the state. And I would like to emphasize that Tropical Storm Debby is not just a coastal event, but it is a statewide event," South Carolina Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson said at a Monday afternoon news conference.
Charleston prepares for impact
Potentially historic flooding is expected in Charleston during the next few days.
Debby's slow movement could result in some dangerously high rain totals for the 354-year-old city that has seen its fair share of flooding through the years.
Charleston sits just a few feet above sea level and is historically difficult to drain. Garages have opened to allow people to move their cars for free if they want to get to higher ground.
The city has handed out 50,000 sandbags and counting. Then there was a jumbo-sized orange version put out Monday night near the Battery.
Up and down King Street, in the heart of Charleston, a number of businesses, including coffee shops and boutique stores, put those sandbags out, and ABC11 saw several people out and about trying to get some last-minute sightseeing and shopping in before the major event the city expects Tuesday.
Robin Wright and Debra Coates were out with their daughters despite the steady rain all day on King Street.
"We're from Colorado, we're tough, we got snow, that kind of stuff," said Coates, who was visiting the city. Asked whether she had gone through a hurricane before, she replied, "No, but I've been through a nor'easter."
Wright was also visiting from Colorado.
"It's a little quieter than we expected," Wright said. "We got bored, so we've got to go shopping."
They are staying in Folly Beach for the week, having arrived Saturday and are supposed to be here until Friday.
Tracy Clayton and his wife were visiting from Seattle.
"This is just like the Pacific Northwest," Clayton said. "We tried to cancel, but we were like, this is like Seattle, let's do it. I survived (Hurricane) Andrew in '92 som when they said 'Cat 1,' I was like, let's roll the dice, let's do it, so here we are."
Tyce Hudson was in town from Huntsville, Alabama.
"We came in last night we came for some commercial real estate training and we figured for sure it would get canceled, so we figured we'd drive back ... however the training goes on."
Hudson said his training was moved from the College of Charleston to a hotel but for now, it's still happening.
"We're used to really hot weather; typically we don't get monsoons," Hudson said.
Caroline Morris ran through the rain to finish the preparations at her grandparents' house near East Bay Street.
"We forgot one vent so we had to come back from our house in West Ashley and cover it up," she said.
Morris has seen a storm or two growing up in the heart of the Low Country but it didn't stop them from sandbagging.
Police also put out 170 barricades throughout the city at vulnerable intersections.
Officials are urging residents and tourists to stay off the roads overnight and into Tuesday.
A curfew was also put in effect starting at 11 p.m. Monday for the peninsula that makes up much of downtown and the older parts of the 350-year-old city as some of the heaviest rain from Tropical Storm Debby is expected to fall overnight.
High-water vehicles will also be staged to go into areas as needed, Charleston Mayor William Cogswell said at a Monday evening news conference.
"We need people to make their way out. This is not something you can stay at the bar until 10:45. We need you to take this seriously," Cogswell said.
The mayor said forecasters told him 10 to 12 inches of rain could fall in Charleston overnight.
City officials will assess the situation early Tuesday and decide how and when to reopen roads and lift the curfew.
State officials don't plan any evacuations in South Carolina for now.
Billion-dollar damages
North Carolina and South Carolina have dealt with three catastrophic floods from tropical systems in the past nine years, all causing more than $1 billion in damage.
In 2015, flooding rains fed by moisture as Hurricane Joaquin passed well offshore caused massive flooding that nearly knocked Columbia's water system offline.
In 2016, flooding from Hurricane Matthew caused 24 deaths in the two states and rivers set record crests. Those records were broken in 2018 with Hurricane Florence, which set rainfall records in both Carolinas, flooded many of the same places and was responsible for 42 deaths in North Carolina and nine in South Carolina.
In Savannah, Jim Froncak piled sandbags into his pickup on Monday, as rain was already falling. He said a recent thunderstorm caused so much flooding that he and a friend were able to kayak down a street.
"That was just a thunderstorm," he said. "So, who knows what could happen with this?"
ABC11's Sean Coffey and Josh Chapin and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
