1:47 p.m.: How bad could the rains be for South Georgia from Debby?
Newsweek says “the sheer amount of rain due to fall in some parts by Friday may be unprecedented. The director of the National Hurricane Center, Michael Brennan, warned Georgia and South Carolina to prepare for potentially “record-breaking rainfall” of up to 30 inches.”
“There’s some really amazing rainfall totals being forecast—and amazing in a bad way,” Brennan said. “That would be record-breaking rainfall associated with a tropical cyclone for both the states of Georgia and South Carolina if we got up to the 30-inch level.”
According to U.S. Climate Data, Newsweek said, Savannah, Georgia, receives 47.96 inches of rain per year on average. That means the city could be lashed by more than half a year’s rainfall within just a few days.
1:03 p.m.: Hotels and motels around Macon have not yet seen a large influx of people evacuating from South Georgia and Florida in response to Hurricane Debby. Hotel staff members said that they expected a few more people than normal to arrive later today and noted that some people have decided to extend their stays in response to the weather.
Additionally, some counties in South Georgia are experiencing major outages, especially Valdosta where 6,572 customers are currently without power, according to Georgia Power’s outage map.
Blackshear reports 500 customers affected by outages, while Homerville reports that 1,122 customers have been affected.
12:39 p.m.: With winds at 70 mph, the eye of Hurricane Debby is 35 miles west of Lake City, Florida, with Savannah and Albany already receiving heavy amounts of rain.
Meanwhile, Bibb County Schools said on Sunday that they’ll be monitoring the weather conditions and are not expecting any changes to school schedules due to Debby.
Noon: Macon emergency officials say rain will be a big problem for Middle Georgia.
“Our biggest impact, at the moment, appears to be the heavy rain and potential for flash flooding,” said EMA Director Spencer Hawkins. “We’ll be talking with the Macon Water Authority today about how we can support their efforts in that area.”
Roughly 2 inches to 4 inches of rain is forecast in Middle Georgia for Debby Monday, and up to 7 inches by Thursday.
Meanwhile, Georgia Power says it is preparing for the inevitable power outages.
The company has mobilized restoration teams as Debby begins to move into Georgia. In a statement, the company said while the exact track and intensity of the hurricane are still uncertain, the company has resources in place and will adjust its plans as the hurricane nears the state to ensure a safe and effective response.
11:35 a.m.: Hurricane Debbie has weakened to tropical storm status, according to the New York Times.
The Times reports the storm’s winds are just below 74 mph.
“The storm’s forward momentum is slowing down even more, to about 8 miles per hour, exacerbating the amount of rain that will fall over the same areas,” The Times wrote.
11:00 a.m.: “You may hear from varying sources that the storm is expected to weaken,” a Monday post from Houston County EMA reads. “However, this does not mean that we are in the clear. The main threat for our area will be the exceptional rainfall expected.”
With 5 to 10 inches of rain expected locally, the saturated soils will make trees significantly more prone to falling, according to the post. Wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph are expected.
Source Agencies
