As Tropical Storm Debby slowly spun across Florida on Monday, Lowcounty forecasters’ confidence grew that over the course of the week Beaufort County could be potentially drenched with historic and catastrophic rainfall.
Early Monday morning, steady rain and slight winds were already blowing through the county, leaving pools of water in some areas. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service’s Charleston Office said that trend will continue through Thursday.
“We’re in it now,” said Ron Morales, meteorologist with the Charleston office.
During the local service’s 11:30 a.m. briefing, Morales said predicted rainfall totals for Hilton Head, Bluffton and Beaufort are between 10 and 20 inches, with the possibility of local amounts up to 30 inches. Because Tropical Storm Debby is moving slowly, it means increased rainfall for the area, Morales said.
Local meteorologists stressed that the forecast amount of rain is rare and historic. For a tropical system of this duration, rainfall totals have a 0.2% to 0.1% chance of happening in any given year, the service said. The NWS highlighted rain and marine conditions as the highest hazards for the county as Debby makes its way through South Carolina.
Four hours after Debby made landfall over Florida’s Big Bend region at 7 a.m. Monday as a Category 1 storm, the system was downgraded to a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Debby was 35 miles west of Lake City, Florida, as of noon Monday. At that time, Tropical Storm Debby had sustained winds of 70 mph and was moving at 8 mph.
Staring early Wednesday and through nearly two days, computer models showed Debby stalling over Atlantic waters, according to the NWS. If the storm can get its center out over the water, redevelopment of a hurricane is possible, Morales said. However, restrengthening back to a hurricane was not currently forecast Monday afternoon, he added.
On Monday, the NWS issued tropical storm and storm surge warnings, and tornado and flood watches for Beaufort County.
A tropical storm warning means sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph or higher associated with a tropical cyclone are expected in 36 hours or less. Tuesday morning is the earliest Beaufort County could see tropical storm-force winds. If tropical storm force-winds blow through the area, Morales said, they’d kick up Monday evening.
The greatest threat from whipping winds would be scattered power outages and downed tree limbs.
Flooding risks persist
Storm surge could reach between 2 and 4 feet over normally dry tidal/near tidal regions, the service reported, which would coincide with high tides and could be complicated in areas where drainage systems are aged.
On Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Beaufort, high tide is expected to reach 7.1 feet and 7.6 feet at 11:23 p.m., according to USHarbors . Hilton Head’s 10:44 a.m. high tide is predicted to be 7.1 feet and its 10:53 p.m. high tide is expected to reach 7.9 feet.
“This just adds an extra level of concern for flooding,” Morales said.
With large amounts of rainfall possible, it could cause flash flooding or ponding on roadways, South Carolina’s Department of Transportation said. The agency urged the public never to drive through standing water.
“We’re still worried about numerous homes and structures (being) flooded,” Morales said. “(On) roadways there could be some washouts, especially those counties that have a lot of dirt roads. It can be really problematic.”
State, local reactions
On Sunday afternoon, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a State of Emergency in preparation for the potential effects of the storm. Later, two sandbag-filling stations were setup in Beaufort County for residents to prepare for continued impacts from Debby.
A few flights at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport were delayed or canceled Monday.
“Just how many and when will depend on the track of the storm and expected weather conditions,” Lori Lynah, the director of marketing and air service development for the airport, told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The city of Beaufort and the town of Port Royal closed their normal business operations Tuesday as city and town workers prepared for major rainfall amounts from Tropical Storm Debby.
During a town of Hilton Head Island press conference Monday, Mayor Alan Perry said he was concerned residents wouldn’t take Tropical Storm Debby seriously because it isn’t expected to bring as heavy winds as previous weather events. Perry encouraged residents to stock up on food and water, stay off roads and secure their homes.
The town increased its emergency staffing and communicated with water and electricity utilities ahead of the predicted unusual rainfall, according to reporting by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
“This one is different,” Perry said. “It doesn’t bring a lot of the things that we see with some of the other storms, but it does bring something we haven’t seen, and that is a tremendous amount of rainfall.”
Reports Karl Puckett, Mary Dimitrov and Chloe Appleby contributed to this report.
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