SAVANNAH, Georgia, USA —
Tropical Storm Debby drenched coastal towns in Georgia and South Carolina on Tuesday, spawning tornadoes and filling streets with waist-deep water, marking just the start of a prolonged storm that could dump staggering totals of up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain.
Charleston and Savannah took the first hit, with up to a foot of rain along the coast between the two cities in just over 24 hours. Police blocked all access roads to the peninsula in downtown Charleston as a precaution. Dozens of roads were closed in the historic city due to flooding.
As Debby heads back out to sea, heavy rains are expected to shift northward to parts of South Carolina and North Carolina that have already suffered two floods in eight years that caused billions of dollars in damage.
Two people tie a rope to a car stranded on a flooded street due to heavy rains from Tropical Storm Debby, August 5, 2024, in Savannah, Georgia.
(Stephen B. Morton/AP)
In one Savannah neighborhood, firefighters used boats Tuesday afternoon to evacuate some residents and waded into waist-deep standing water to deliver bottled water and supplies to others who refused to leave.
Michael Jones said the downpours caused water to rush into his home Monday night, knocking over the refrigerator and causing furniture to float. Outside, the water seemed to be everywhere and was too deep to safely escape. So Jones spent the night awake at the kitchen table before firefighters, who went door to door, responded to his home in a boat Tuesday morning.
“It was hell all night,” Jones said. “It was tough, but God is good.”
The storm was centered about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Savannah, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. Tuesday advisory. It was moving east-northeast at about 3 mph (5 kph).
The storm is expected to slowly move out to sea, then retreat and return to land near Charleston on Thursday.
