State officials warn the threats from Debby are not over as it prepares to make landfall

State officials warned threats from Tropical Storm Debby were not over for the state during Gov. Henry McMaster’s media briefing with state emergency management officials on Wednesday.
“Things have not been as bad as they could have been, although we’ve had a lot of rain, and it’s not nearly over,” said McMaster. “One way to look at this is if we’re in the second act of a three-act play.”
He explained that the first act was the rain, which was coming primarily from Beaufort and towards Charleston. That has subsided some now, and the hurricane moved a little off the storm.
The second act will involve extreme rainfall returning to the Pee Dee region this evening as Debby starts moving northward, and there is a risk for widespread flash flooding. The heavy rain will spread into much of the Midlands and Catawba River Area tonight and continue into Thursday, and localized flash flooding is likely in these areas.
McMaster said the third act will start after the rains are gone, and all that water that has not yet finished coming through the rivers will crest and come through.
Officials noted that Debbie’s direct impacts would persist into Thursday night or Friday, but the river impacts could potentially last much longer.
Strong winds from Debby will spread over the Grand Strand and vicinity this evening as it tracks northward. The primary area of concern for damaging wind is at the coast, but isolated wind damage can occur across the eastern part of the state, especially in the Pee Dee region.
John Quagliariello of the National Weather Service said the rainfall would be a threat.
“It may not be as catastrophic as we were saying, but we still think that as these rain bands develop, they could sit over the same area for long periods and produce a lot of rainfall and a lot of flooding, so we really just need to be mindful that the threat isn’t over,” he said. “It’s still going to be there.”
Justin Powell, secretary of the S.C. Department of Transportation, said they are actively monitoring flood forecasts in the Pee Dee River Basin and its impacts on the state highway system.
Mark Keel, chief of the State Law Enforcement Division, said he has contacted sheriffs in the Pee Dee region.
“We’re putting our emphasis now in the Pee Dee area with Tropical Storm Debbie making landfall and what type of rain amounts we end up in the Pee Dee area,” said Keel. “We stand ready to support our local law enforcement counterparts wherever they need it.”
Andrew Bateman, acting director of the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff, said that as the storm moved north, they expected the Pee Dee region to be significantly impacted and that widespread power outages were expected.
He reminded people that flooding may impact utility representatives’ ability to restore power and may cause some delays.