No injuries reported in SC
By Abraham Kenmore
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — Tropical Storm Debby has already dumped more than a foot of rain in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, spun off tornadoes and prompted calls for an evacuation due to concerns of a potential dam failure.
The slow-moving storm is expected to meander near South Carolina’s coast for a couple of days before returning ashore Thursday morning.
A tornado touched down Monday night on Edisto Beach, according to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office. And damage was reported Tuesday morning on Isle of Palms from what police called a likely tornado, according to WCBD.
Officials reported property damage, as well as downed trees and power poles. But there were no reports of injuries in South Carolina.
The National Hurricane Center reports tornadoes are possible along the coast through Wednesday morning.
The storm was responsible for four deaths in Florida, where Debby made landfall Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, and one in Georgia, according to The Associated Press.
On Tuesday morning, Colleton County Fire warned residents that the McGrady Dam could fail and recommended that area residents evacuate immediately.
But hours later, a spokeswoman for the state’s environmental agency said officials who visited the site “observed no indication of imminent failure.
“The emergency spillway appeared to be working as it is designed to,” said Laura Renwick with the state Department of Environmental Services.
Colleton County has seen some of the highest rainfall totals so far, with 14 inches falling in Green Pond between Saturday and 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Edisto Beach had already received over a foot of rain, and nearly 10 inches fell in Charleston, where it doesn’t take much to put streets completely under water. North Myrtle Beach had nearly 8 inches of rain and Columbia just over 5 in the same period. Even in the Upstate, Taylors — outside Greenville — received 3 inches of rain, according to the 11 a.m. update.
Dominion Energy reported just more than 9,000 customers without power through South Carolina around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. Duke Energy’s map showed minor outages in areas where the company provides service, with the largest outage impacting 80 customers in Florence County.
In an 11 a.m. Tuesday bulletin, the Hurricane Center reported gusts of up to 48 mph near Georgetown, with sustained winds of 39 mph.
The city of Charleston extended a curfew, which started Monday night, through Wednesday, citing the amount of rain and gusts of wind up to 40 miles an hour. Main routes onto the peninsula remain closed, and an advisory by the city encouraged residents to stay home. Severe flooding is expected through Thursday.
The storm is still expected to bring 10 to 20 inches of rain, although the maximum amount is now predicted to be 25 inches, down from 30 on Monday. Maps from the Hurricane Center show the worst of the rain north of Charleston and up the coast into North Carolina.
The risk of flash flooding remains high, at least 70%, along the entire coast of the state. The risk is moderate through the Midlands and slight to marginal in the Upstate.
The Hurricane Center still expects storm surge of up to 4 feet along the Georgia and South Carolina coast, reaching all the way to southern North Carolina.
On Monday evening, President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for South Carolina, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief.
Abraham Kenmore is a reporter covering elections, health care and more. He joins the S.C. Daily Gazette from The Augusta Chronicle, where he reported on Georgia legislators, military and housing issues.
S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
