National Hurricane Center director talks Debby’s timing, impacts in S.C.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Debby is expected to bring widespread impacts to South Carolina this week.

National Hurricane Center Director Dr. Michael Brennan talked with the WMBF News Today team Monday morning, saying the big story for the Palmetto State is the potential for historical rainfall.

“As Debby moves very slowly along the coast of South Carolina all the way from Tuesday into Wednesday, Thursday and even Friday, we still expect the center of the storm to be meandering, moving only three to four miles per hour, through that entire period,” Brennan said. “That’s going to allow that multi-day heavy rainfall event to play out.”

FIRST ALERT: Debby now a hurricane, ‘catastrophic’ flooding possible in parts of SC

Myrtle Beach and Georgetown could see 10 to 20 inches of rainfall over “widespread areas,” Brennan said.

These rainfall totals are nothing to take lightly.

“Most fatalities in tropical storms and hurricanes happen from rainfall flooding; it is responsible for more than half of the deaths. So, don’t underestimate what rainfall can do,” Brennan said.

Brennan also said don’t let your guard down because of the storm’s lower wind speed, especially with the amount of rainfall the storm is expected to bring.

“You could have areas flood that never flooded before,” Brennan said.

The National Hurricane Center expects to issue Tropical Storm Watches for our area on Monday.

Brennan said the storm’s impacts could extend into next week as well.

So stay with the WMBF News First Alert Weather team for the latest on Debby.

Debby made landfall early Monday morning in Florida as a category one hurricane.