Tropical storm “Debby” has caused heavy rain and flooding in the southeast of the USA. In parts of the states of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, entire streets were under water and people had to be rescued from their cars and sometimes even from their homes, US media reported.
In the coastal city of Charleston, South Carolina, a curfew was in effect on Wednesday night (local time) “to keep people off the streets and ensure their safety and the safety of our first responders,” the city said.
Tens of thousands of households without electricity
“Debby” made landfall in the state of Florida on Monday as a category 1 out of 5 hurricane and was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly afterwards. According to media reports, the number of storm deaths in Florida and Georgia has now risen to at least five, for example due to falling trees or car accidents. In Florida alone, more than 44,000 households were still without power early Wednesday morning, according to the website poweroutage.us reported.
According to the US weather service, the center of the storm recently moved back over the sea. “Debby” will gain strength there in the coming hours. Experts expect the storm to make landfall in South Carolina again on Thursday. The weather service warned of “potentially historic” amounts of rain in parts of South Carolina and the neighboring state of North Carolina. Isolated tornadoes are also possible.
Tropical cyclones form over warm ocean waters. Increasing global warming increases the likelihood of strong storms.
