Tropical Storm Debby dropped heavy rain Tuesday on the southeastern United States as forecasters warned of catastrophic flooding in parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the storm was expected to bring “potentially historic rainfall totals” of 25 to 50 centimeters in some areas through Wednesday.
After making landfall as a hurricane on Florida’s Gulf coast on Monday, the center of the storm was expected to move across Georgia and into the Atlantic Ocean before making another landfall in South Carolina on Thursday.
The storm’s slow-moving nature is heightening the flooding risk as it brings prolonged periods of heavy rain.
"This is a level four out of four risk for excessive rainfall," Michael Brennan, director of the NHC, told reporters Monday.
The storm is being blamed for at least four deaths and has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people in Florida and Georgia.
U.S. President Joe Biden approved disaster declarations for Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, allowing for federal agencies to carry out relief efforts.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
