Residents across the Southeast are bracing for historic flooding as Tropical Storm Debby moves through the region. The system is expected to drop unprecedented amounts of rain on Georgia and the Carolinas after coming ashore as a Category 1 hurricane in Florida on Monday.
CBN's Operation Blessing is on the ground in Georgia to help disaster victims in the name of Jesus. The Christian relief organization is responding to the devastation caused by Debby.
Operation Blessing teams will begin making damage assessments of the hardest-hit areas along the southeast coast of the U.S. including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. They are prepared to provide much-needed relief to residents who will be struggling to deal with the damage as torrential rains and high winds move through the region at a slow pace this week.
***Please consider supporting Operation Blessing as it rushes disaster relief to the region.
Debby is expected to dump record-setting amounts of rain along coastal regions of Florida up through North Carolina – anywhere between 20 and 30 inches – more than the previous high in 2018 from Tropical Storm Florence.
The historic city of Charleston, South Carolina is one of several preparing for what could be unprecedented flooding, as millions of people could be impacted. Residents and business owners are fortifying their properties with sandbags, while police are barricading streets in vulnerable areas. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency, citing the likely damage to come.
"It may be the most water we've seen in a long time," he said at a Monday news conference. "So stay tuned, stay alert, and stay safe."
PHOTO: Flood water blocks a section of Dodecanese Blvd at the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, Monday morning, Aug 5, 2024, in Tarpon Springs, Fla., as Hurricane Debby passes the Tampa Bay area offshore. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP)
South of Charleston, a tornado damaged property, and threats of more twisters continue to persist throughout the region.
In Savannah, Georgia, Mayor Van Johnson advised residents to "hunker down."
"This type of rain, hovering over us, coming with the intensity that they say is coming," he said, "it's going to catch a whole lot of people by surprise."
Hurricane Debby made landfall along the Gulf Coast of Florida on Monday packing sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. The storm surge and more than a foot of rain left streets underwater in places like Gainesville and Sarasota, where authorities declared flash flood emergencies. Tens of thousands of homes lost power.
The Florida National Guard performed hundreds of high-water rescues in flooded neighborhoods.
The storm is blamed for at least five deaths, including a 13-year-old Florida boy who was killed inside while sleeping in his bedroom in a mobile home that was hit by a falling tree. In Georgia, a 19-year-old man was also killed by a falling tree. Near Tampa, police say the driver of a truck lost control of his tractor-trailer and it plunged into the water below. Two others died in Florida in traffic accidents related to Debby.
Meanwhile, one boater is grateful to be alive. Nathan Thomas and his friend were rescued off Florida's Gulf Coast in 20-foot waves. He said the storm came quicker than expected and they lost the sail on their sailboat.
"It's just a washing machine in the Gulf," he said. "I knew if the Coast Guard didn't get us, we probably had less than a 50-percent chance of surviving."
Forecasters say Debby is expected to move as far north as Boston throughout the rest of the week.
***Please consider supporting Operation Blessing as it rushes disaster relief to the region.
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