Hurricane Tropical Debby sweeps over the Atlantic coast, dousing Southeast with rain and heavy waves.
Tropical Storm Debby has soaked coastal towns in Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina and is still pouring heavy rain to the region. The excessive rain has caused significant damage to small businesses in Live Oak, Florida.
Tropical Storm Debby pummeled coastal cities in Georgia and South Carolina, sparked tornadoes, and buried streets in waist-high floodwaters Tuesday, marking the start of a lengthy storm that might dump up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain. Charleston and Savannah, Georgia, received the initial blow, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) of rain falling on the coast among the two cities in just over 24 hours.
Police closed all roads into Charleston's central peninsula to all but critical workers and rescue workers. Dozens of routes in the old city were closed due to flooding, which occurs many times every year as sea levels rise.
As Hurricane Debby crosses the Tampa Bay area offshore, a BMW vehicle is stuck in high water on southbound US Alt 19 in Tarpon Springs, Fla. on Monday morning, August 5, 2024. (Douglas R. Clifford / Tampa Bay Times via AP).
On Monday, August 5, 2024, in Savannah, Georgia, people tie a towline to a stalled vehicle on a flooded roadway following heavy rain from Tropical Storm Debby. AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton.
As Debby spins just offshore, the heavy rain is projected to proceed north toward South and North Carolina, where two billion-dollar floods have occurred in the last eight years.
In one Savannah neighborhood, firemen used boats to evacuate some residents before wading through floods to bring bottled water and other supplies to individuals who refused to go.
Michael Jones reported that water flooded his home Monday evening, toppling the freezer and causing furniture to float. Outside, the water appeared to be everywhere and too deep to escape safely. So Jones spent a restless night on the table in his kitchen until firefighters arrived in a boat Tuesday morning.
