Gov. McMaster says SC in 'third act' of Tropical Storm Debby
Gov. Henry McMaster's Thursday, Aug. 8 briefing began with a message for those struggling in tropical storm Debby's aftermath.
"Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinity hope,'" said Chaplain John Denny with the South Carolina National Guard before leading the state's officials and Emergency Management Division into prayer.
The 2 p.m. briefing, held at the S.C. Emergency Operations Center on Fish Hatchery Road, focused on issues impacting coastal areas of the state -- flash flooding, damage assessment operations, rising rivers, and sheltering.
McMaster described Debby's next phase as "the third act of this three-act play" and was determined to continue leading the state into recovery.
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Nina Tran
Ridgeland residents endure flooding during Tropical Storm Debby
Bery Barrera thought she was ready for Tropical Storm Debby, however she was not prepared for what she saw creeping up her front steps once the storm arrived.
The storm moved through the area Aug. 6, dropping 13.78 inches of rain in Beaufort, 12.45 inches in Hardeeville and 6.59 inRidgeland, causing massive flooding.
Barrera has lived in the Carters Mill Mobile Home Park in Ridgeland for the past two years and as a resident of Jasper County has witnessed several major storms pummel her part of the South Carolina Lowcountry.
"I had been through Hurricane Matthew, but we had not seen the flooding that we saw from Tropical Storm Debby," she said a day after the storm had arrived. "We had prepared with candles, canned foods, and water."
She had planned to be without power, what she had not planned for was the sheer amount of water the storm unleashed.
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Shellie Murdaugh
Tropical Storm Debby did more than wreck SC Lowcountry roads
In the rural South Carolina Lowcountry, it's all about knowing the right country roads to take you home. But what do you do when the roads are gone?
Tropical StormDebby flooded and destroyedscores of country roads during hersoggy, lingering visit to the Lowcountry, impacting lives and jobs and fragmenting already isolated rural communities.
Keith's Country Store is a stopping point. A country crossroads. An oasis in a food desert and a depot of sorts. Since 1926, the quaint Grays store, located roughly 40 miles from Bluffton, has greeted travelers along the 30-minute trip between Hampton and Jasper counties at the junction of two busy thoroughfares, U.S. 278 and S.C. Highway 3.
Until now. Less than a mile away, with a ravaging pressure of volume, gravity, and relentless force, Debby's floodwaters gouged out a large chunk of U.S. 278 and washed the remnants downstream.
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Michael DeWitt
Tropical Storm Debby rainfall totals for SC, Georgia, NC
Debby was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression on Thursday, Aug. 8, and is heading north, but that doesn't mean it is finishedwith the Carolinas.
"Debby is expected to produce an additional 3 to 6 inches of rainfall with locally higher amounts, across portions of southeastern North Carolina leading to maximum storm total amountsas high as 15 inches," the National Hurricane Center said in a 5 p.m. briefing. "Additional rainfall of 1 to 3 inches over portions of eastern South Carolina will bring maximum storm total amounts as high as 20 to 25 inches. Considerable flooding is expected across portions of eastern South Carolina and southeast North Carolina through Friday."
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Todd Runkle
Power outages in Spartanburg, SC
Despite Debby's ocean origins, residents across the state are also experiencing power outages. According to outage maps from Duke Energy, Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper, roughly 5,015 customers are experiencing power outages Thursday afternoon.
Spartanburg County had the highest number of outages around 1:30 p.m., with 2,188 customers without power. York County followed with 1,803 residents facing an outage.
If you need to report a power outage in your area,visitDuke,Dominion,andSantee Cooper'swebsites for instructions. If your power is out, clicking on the reported outage near your location will show the estimated time it will take to repair and restore it.
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Sarah Swetlik
Tropical Storm Debby SC rain totals
According tofour-day rainfall reportsfrom the National Weather Service issued Thursday morning, some of South Carolina's coastal counties have already seen more than a foot of rain.
Here are some of the highest rainfall totals:
- Green Pond in Colleton County: 17.35 inches
- Summerville in Dorchester County: 14.86 inches
- Mount Pleasant in Charleston County: 14.71 inches
- Huger in Berkeley County: 14.01 inches
- Seabrook in Beaufort County 13.43 Inches
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Sarah Swetlik
More rain in Greenville than expected. Is this cause for concern?
Tropical storm Debby is giving South Carolina all it's got before clearing out of the area later tonight, Thursday, Aug. 8..
After a hot and sunny week in the Upstate, residents are now experiencing what's left of Debby's wrath, with rain pouring down in Greenville and Spartanburg heading into Friday.
"It's raining a little more than we were initially expecting in Greenville County, but we're not expecting any problems." said Doug Outlaw with theNational Weather Service at GSP.
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Nina Tran
Drone footage of Tropical Storm Debby released
Before Debby even touched down in Florida, however, a drone had already ventured through raging sea waters right into the eye of the storm. The remotely controlled Saildrone Explorerdrone is part ofSaildrone's line of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs),durable information-gathering machines that are piloted into storms with the help of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Saildrone and NOAA officially launched their fourth missionto collect data on hurricane conditions just days before Debby formed, launching 12 unmanned vehicles stationed in six areas likely to see storm activity. One, called SD-1057, dove directly into Debby soon after its launch, sending back amazing video footage from the rolling waves.
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USA Today
Tropical Storm Debby makes landfall in SC
Tropical Storm Debby made landfall in South Carolina early Thursday, prompting fears of flash flooding in areas already soaked by the slow-moving weather system.
According to a2 a.m. ET updatefrom the National Hurricane Center, Debby made landfall near Bulls Bay, South Carolina. The storm, located 20 miles southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and 65 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was moving northwest at 5 mph, with maximum sustained winds up to 50 mph.
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USA Today
Will climate change make hurricanes worse?
Tropical Storm Debby made landfall in South Carolina Thursday morning after traversing the Southeast and bringing heavy rainfall.
Debby hit a small community in North Florida on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane with wind speeds around 80 miles per hour. While it weakened after hitting land, Debby has regained some strength since traveling back into the Atlantic Ocean.
It’s South Carolina’s first big storm of the season – one that experts have predicted will be more active than normal due to warmer-than-average ocean temperatures and an expected La Nina.
But Debby may not be the last storm of the season, and current flooding in the Lowcountry may be an indication of hurricane seasons to come. Scientists believe tropical cyclones may continue to bring more rainfall and storm surges as the planet continues to warm.
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Sarah Swetlik
McMaster says SC should remain cautious
On Wednesday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and several state emergency management officials said that while the state has been “lucky” so far as Tropical Storm Debby travels toward South Carolina, residents should remain cautious as “we are not nearly out of the woods yet.”
The storm is expected to make a second landfall along northern Charleston late Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
McMaster said so far, no deaths or injuries have been reported from the storm in the state.
“We are in the second act of a three-act play,” McMaster said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. He said the first act was the rain primarily affecting Beaufort and Charleston counties. The second act is expected to have “heavy rains” affecting the Midlands and the coast, with the third act occurring after the rain.
McMaster said the PeeDee area of the state is the next area expected to receive heavy rain.
John Quagliariello, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Tropical Storm Debby has “strengthened some” after going offshore and is moving northeast at 3 miles per hour. He said the storm could strengthen some more before it officially makes landfall.
The state's main concern has always been the potential for flash and river flooding, which remains a chief concern. So far, the state has seen 9 to 17 inches of rain from the tropical storm.
Additional rainfall of 4 to 8 inches could still occur, hitting the already-drenched ground, which would not be able to absorb the incoming rainfall.
Officials continued to encourage residents to use “extreme caution” when traveling.
Savannah Moss
Tropical Storm Debby's forecast for Upstate
According to Doug Outlaw with the NWS at GSP, Greenville's total rainfall will be less than an inch.
"We're not really expecting any problems for Greenville. Areas west of Greenville, there's hardly any rain," Outlaw said. "Clemson, not even a quarter of an inch."
Thursday's rainstorm is forecast to be heavy due to the tropical nature of the storm, but brief. The chance for thunderstorms is low.
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Nina Tran
Red Cross, Salvation Army volunteers head to storm-damaged areas
On Wednesday, theRed Crossof Greenville and theSalvation Armyof Spartanburg sent food, clothing, and volunteers to the Lowcountryto help people displaced by Tropical Storm Debby.
For Red Cross volunteer Cheryl Bashaw, 64, of Anderson, the work helps people in their lowest moments.
“Every case is always going to be different, different circ*mstances, different people, different place, different everything but then again, they're all the same,” said Bashaw who was headed to the Charleston area. “They've all just experienced possibly a tragic event that may change their life. I find it rewarding to try to help them through that.”
Mandy McMahon, the Red Cross spokesperson, said the organization has at least 770 volunteers deployed up and down the coast from Florida and Georgia to the Carolinas. About 280 people are staying in Red Cross shelters.
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Terry Benjamin II
Tropical Storm Debby rainfall totals for SC, NC, Georgia
Tropical Storm Debby continues towreak havoc on the Southeast coast, dumping more than a foot of rain in some South Carolina locations through Wednesday morning, Aug. 7.
"Heavy rainfall across portions of the Carolinas is expected to persist through Thursday along with areas of considerable flooding," theNational Hurricane Center saidin an 11 a.m. Aug. 7 statement.
The Hurricane Center said that tropical storm conditions will continue to impact parts of the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts through Thursday, and also that storm surge is likely to result in coastal flooding in those areas.
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Todd Runkle
Tropical Storm Debby hits Hampton County, SC Lowcountry
As of Wednesday afternoon, Tropical Storm Debby has fortunately proven to be not quite the historic weather monster that forecasters and Southeastern U.S. residents feared, but the ongoing storm has already left a catastrophic impact on the S.C. Lowcountry and she isn't done yet.
Debby attacked the Florida Panhandle's Big Bend region as a Category 1 hurricane on Monday morning, drenched Florida and Georgia before hugging the southeast coast and making an expected second landfall in South Carolina as atropical storm.
In her wake, governors in the three states and U.S. President Joe Biden declared Debby a disaster for millions living and working in the Southeast.
While nearby Jasper County appeared to bear the brunt of the storm in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Hampton County is facing its own challenges, with some road sections not just flooded but completely washed away and destroyed, forcing county officials to declare an Aug. 6 Civil Emergency.
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Michael DeWitt
Tropical Storm Debby turns streets of Charleston to rivers
Tropical storm Debby's center is on track to move onto South Carolina's coast by Wednesday night or early Thursday.
This update comes from theNational Hurricane Center's (NHS)11:10 a.m. public advisory, which states Debby has picked up slightly in strength.
A dangerous flood threat continues for portions of the Carolinas, especially for residents on the coast. By Tuesday morning,Charleston's streets were submerged in waterdue to heavy rainfall, and emergency officials worked together to bring residents to safety.
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Nina Tran
Bluffton assisting residents due to Tropical Storm Debby flooding
The Town of Bluffton has seen about 13 inches of rain as of Wednesday afternoon and more was expected within the next 24 hours.
"The grounds are already saturated, and the community still needs to take precautions," a representative for the town said Wednesday.
Town leaders and staff have been traveling throughout Bluffton throughout the storm clearing and cleaning debris off the roads, assisting with ditch debris and speaking to residents.
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Shellie Murdaugh
What's the difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm?
South Carolina's coast has received record amounts of rainfall in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby, which made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Steinhatchee, Florida early Monday morning before weakening into a tropical storm again.
But what makes a hurricane different from a tropical storm? Here's how to tell the difference, along with some other key things to knowas the Atlantic hurricane season approaches its traditional climax.
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Sarah Swetlik
