Slow-moving Tropical Storm Debby to drench Carolinas with heavy rain

Tropical Storm Debby is heading off the coast of South Carolina toward the Northeast as heavy rain and flooding continue to inundate the East Coast on Wednesday.

The storm is expected to make a second landfall on the coast of South Carolina by Wednesday night or early Thursday, after making a turn toward the north-northwest Wednesday.

As of 8 a.m. EDT Wednesday, the storm’s center was about 90 miles east of Savannah, Ga., and about 50 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C.

Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph, with higher gusts, making Debby a tropical storm. Sustained winds of 74-plus mph categorize a storm as a hurricane.

The storm could strengthen before reaching the coast, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), but is expected to weaken Thursday once its center heads inland.

Debby is expected to speed up as it heads north across the Carolinas and the U.S. mid-Atlantic region Thursday and Friday.

Tropical storm conditions, within the warning area, will continue along the coast of Soutth Carolina through Thursday and within North Carolina on Wednesday and continuing through Thursday.

Risk of storm surge remains high, as “combination of storm surge and tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” according to the NHC. From South Santee River, S.C., to Cape Fear, N.C., water could reach 2-4 feet above ground.