East central to northeast Florida could see up to 20 inches in spots by the time the storm fully pulls away. Major-to-record river flooding, meanwhile, is expected to continue across central Florida through next week. Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia have declared states of emergency ahead of Ian's arrival. Much of South Carolina could see up to seven feet of storm surge. Storm surge and flooding, while not as severe as parts of Florida endured, will be extensively problematic for coastal areas in the warning zone through the weekend. Considerable flash flooding is expected across coastal areas in the high-impact zones through Friday as the tornado threat that afflicted Florida a day ago shifts north. The rest of the state, North Carolina and southern Virginia are forecast to see 3 to 6 inches with locally higher amounts of 8 inches possible for western North Carolina. In terms of rainfall, South Carolina's Pee Dee region (the northeastern part of the state) should see the most, 4 to 8 inches with up to a foot possible in isolated areas. Storm surge watches and warnings are also in effect, and tropical storm warnings are in place for the rest of the North Carolina shoreline, as well as the coast of Georgia and northwestern Florida. Hurricane warnings are in effect along the eastern seaboard from the Georgia-South Carolina border up to Cape Fear, North Carolina. While North Carolina is being urged to monitor the system, NHC says Ian is expected to weaken rapidly after making its second landfall in a number of days at hurricane strength. Its center will move farther inland across the Carolinas Friday night into Saturday. It's possible the storm strengthens to Category 2 before making landfall. On the current track, Ian will continue to intensify moderately as it turns to the north-northwest and approaches the coast of South Carolina Friday afternoon. Life-threatening flooding, storm surge and strong winds are expected for the Carolinas, but the impacts will also hit Georgia and even parts of Florida (once again), which is grappling with catastrophic aftermath - and will be for some time. The storm was moving north-northeast and sitting about 175 miles south of Charleston as its maximum sustained winds picked up to 85 mph as of the National Hurricane Center's 2 a.m. The monster storm, which has tropical-storm-force winds extending a whopping 415 miles from its center, is expected to maintain its strength as a hurricane before making landfall in South Carolina Friday afternoon. The storm made landfall Wednesday afternoon as the fifth-strongest hurricane to ever do so in the United States, based on wind speeds. A still-powerful Ian intensified to hurricane status once again Thursday evening, churning northeast as it continues to head toward the Carolinas as a Category 1 storm after tearing off roofs, trapping people in flooded homes and knocking out power to more than 2.5 million in Florida.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |