MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

At least 5 killed in Debby's first raid through the US

Debby is forecasted to make landfall again on Thursday in South Carolina

Tropical Storm (or Hurricane) “Debby” has left at least 5 people dead and “catastrophic” flooding in the southern US after making landfall this week. President Joseph Biden has already decreed the emergency as further damage is expected in the coming days. Four of the casualties were in Florida and the other in Georgia.

“Debby” moved toward some of the most historic cities in the southern United States -such as Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia- and is expected to bring prolonged torrential rains and flooding after lashing Florida, prompting the rescue of hundreds of people from flooded homes.

North and South Carolina authorities have asked the population to exercise extreme caution. “Debby is expected to produce potentially historic rainfall totals,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned as it heralded “areas of catastrophic flooding” in the Carolinas through Friday. After heading back for the ocean, Debby is forecasted to make landfall again on Thursday in South Carolina. Northern states such as New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey were also said to be in some sort of peril.

So far in the current Atlantic basin hurricane season, which began on June 1, four tropical storms have formed, “Alberto”, “Beryl”, “Chris” and “Debby”, with the second and fourth becoming hurricanes.

Debby also made the news in Florida for bringing ashore packs of cocaine worth about US$ 1 million. Reaching the State as a hurricane with high winds, torrential rains, downed trees, and the usual crisis scenario, Debby also resulted in over 30 kilograms of cocaine in 25 packages with an estimated value of over US$ 1 million to a Florida Keys beach.

Debby moved offshore of the Georgia coast Tuesday night, the NHC said. The storm's center was some 50 miles southeast of Savannah and 70 miles southwest of Charleston and was moving east-northeast at 5 mph with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.