‘This is an animal we don’t think we have seen before,’ McMaster says of Storm Debby

Tropical Storm Debby is slowly barreling toward South Carolina, prompting Gov. Henry McMaster and other state officials to issue a stark warning: Be prepared.

Flash flooding, tornadoes and grave storm surges are some of the effects South Carolinaians can expect to see once Tropical Storm Debby makes its way to the Palmetto State this week, according to McMaster and state officials.

“This (storm) is an animal that we don’t think we have seen before,” McMaster said Monday during a news conference at the South Carolina Department of Emergency Management. “So, we must be very very prepared.”

Debby made landfall as a Category One hurricane in the Big Bend area of Florida Monday at 7 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. It has since weakened to a tropical storm that will move across northern Florida and southeast Georgia Monday night before resting over the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday morning, the service said.

“Unfortunately, Debby will linger just off the South Carolina coast for much of the midweek period before possibly moving back on shore somewhere along the northern South Carolina coast or possibly even the southeast North Carolina coast on late Thursday (day), Thursday night or Friday,” said John Quagliariello of the National Weather Service in Columbia.

Given the slow movement of Debby, Quagliariello said state officials are “confident that there will be prolonged periods of impact” throughout the state late in the week. “This includes tropical storm force winds, storm surge along the coast, a few tornadoes and the dreaded catastrophic flash and urban flooding.”

In 2015, a combination of weather systems, including a stalled front, deep tropical moisture and Hurricane Joaquin led to historic rainfall across South Carolina, where 15-20 inches of rain resulted in widespread flooding and damage to numerous properties and roads. Many people had to be rescued by emergency personnel.

State officials and McMaster said while they aren’t sure whether Debby will reproduce a similar catastrophe, they’re cautioning residents to be extremely mindful of the possibility.

“We expect some of the impacts similar to what we saw during the 2015 floods,” said Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson. “The areas affected (this year) are probably going to be a lot different than they were last time, but certainly the roads and the floods” will be a factor. “If you live in a flood prone area ... identify a higher ground where you can seek safety as needed.”

Overall, officials are cautioning residents to refrain from driving as the storm system makes its way across the state, saying that as little as two feet of surging water has the power to sweep a car off the road.

“Just six inches of fast moving water can knock a person off their feet and two feet can sweep most vehicles away as well,” Stenson said.

Although McMaster announced a state of emergency on Sunday ahead of the storm, he said Monday that no evacuation orders have been issued. Evacuation orders will largely be left for local authorities to issue, depending on relative storm conditions.

Still, McMaster is urging South Carolinians to prepare by securing water, batteries, flashlights, and any other resource they believe they might need.

To avert the potential of dams flooding, Myra Reece, interim Director of the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, said her agency has already begun draining flood prone areas.

“We’ve made communications with dam owners of our regulated 2,400 regulating dams started Sunday afternoon where we advised owners to be vigilant, keep their eyes on the dam, keeping spillways clear of debris and keep them flowing,” Reece said.

Reece added that dam owners have been advised to lower their water levels “while coordinating the release with downstream dam owners.”

“Today our team has conducted three storm assessments of some dams that we felt like might be vulnerable to this type of intense storm and we’re working with the owners to advise them if any additional steps might be recommended to minimize the impacts,” Reece said.