By Rich McKay and Tyler Clifford
ATLANTA (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Debby threatened to drop historic amounts of rain and produce dangerous ocean surges in Georgia and the Carolinas on Tuesday as it crawled toward the Atlantic, a day after crashing ashore in Florida’s Gulf Coast as a hurricane, killing at least six people.
Between 10 inches (25 cm) to 20 inches (51 cm) of rain was expected to fall along parts of the Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina coasts through Friday and cause catastrophic flooding, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm was carrying 45 mph (72 kph) winds as it moved slowly just south of Savannah, Georgia, early on Tuesday morning. Heavy rainfall could cause flooding in parts of the mid-Atlantic through Sunday, the center said.
Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast on Monday morning, dumping eight to 16 inches of rain in parts of central Florida, according to local reports. The storm has been blamed for five deaths in Florida and one near Valdosta, Georgia.
Nearly 120,000 were without power in Florida as of Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us, down from a peak of 350,000 on Monday. Hundreds of flights to and from the state were canceled.
Weather conditions could spawn tornadoes as well, according to the NHC. Cars were flipped and restaurants were damaged in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, early Tuesday morning by a suspected tornado, WCSC-TV reported. Mayor Thomas Hamilton Jr. said there were minor injuries.
The hurricane center said Debby would slow down and move east and off Georgia’s shore on Tuesday before turning north and drifting inland over South Carolina near Charleston on Thursday.
Vice President Kamala Harris postponed a presidential campaign stop scheduled this week in Savannah, the Savannah Morning News reported.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said the city could expect a “once in a thousand year” rain event.
“This will literally create islands in the city,” Johnson said.
(Reporting by Tyler Clifford in New York City; Editing by Frank McGurty)
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