Savannah is no longer the bullseye for the highest rain totals from Hurricane Debby, but flooding remains a concern for forecasters.
National Hurricane Center projections over the weekend included Chatham County in the region likely to see the most extreme rainfall but maps released Monday morning show the biggest threat now is along the South Carolina coast.
However, 10-20 inches of rain is still possible over the next few days in the Savannah area if, as forecasters expect, the remnants of Debby move slowly along the coast after the storm crosses into Georgia from Florida.
As Debbie made landfall on the Florida Panhandle with 70 mph winds Monday morning, its outer bands brought steady rain to the Savannah area. Gusts of up to 40 mph are possible locally beginning Monday night and extending into Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
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The forecast calls for up to 2 inches of rain Monday and 4 inches Monday night, 4 inches Tuesday and 2 inches Tuesday night, and 2 inches Wednesday and Wednesday night.
Along the coast, storm surge will send as much as 2 to 4 feet of water over normally dry ground, NWS predicted.
That level of inundation during multiple high tides while steady rain continues will be “problematic” for coastal cities like Charleston and Savannah, said Ron Morales, a meteorologist in the weather service’s Charleston office.
“Their drainage is impacted by how high those tides are or can be,” Morales explained. “This just adds, really, an extra level of concerns of floods and … beach erosion.”
The Savannah area remains under tropical storm and storm surge warnings, as well as flood and tornado watches.
John Deem covers climate change and the environment in coastal Georgia. He can be reached at 912-652-0213 or jdeem@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Hurricane Debby reaches Savannah with rain; strong winds to follow
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