Wet and unwelcome, storm spawns twisters and flooding in US
RALEIGH, N.C. >> Tropical Storm Fred weakened to a depression and spawned several apparent tornadoes in Georgia and North Carolina on Tuesday as it dumped heavy rains into the Appalachian mountains.
One death was reported: a Las Vegas man whose car hydroplaned near Panama City, Fla., Monday night and overturned into a water-filled ditch, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Fewer than 30,000 customers were without power in Florida and Georgia after the storm crashed ashore late Monday afternoon near Cape San Blas in the Florida Panhandle. Emergency crews were repairing downed power lines and clearing toppled trees in Fred’s aftermath. Some schools and colleges in Florida, Alabama and Georgia canceled Tuesday’s in-person classes due to the storm.
The National Hurricane Center said Fred had top sustained winds of 35 mph as it crossed southeast Alabama into western and north Georgia. Senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said Tuesday that it could dump 5 to 7 inches of rain into parts of Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, and possibly up to 10 inches of rain in isolated spots, causing flash flooding in mountainous areas.
Clay Chaney, meteorologist with National Weather Service, said a local fire chief in North Carolina told the agency a tornado was on the ground in northern Iredell County around 12:47 p.m. The weather service was also looking into reports of a tornado hitting Alexander County.
Parts of western North Carolina, already soaked by rain not directly associated with Fred, braced Tuesday for more rainfall through early the next day.
Emergency declared
Transylvania County, south of Asheville, declared a state of emergency after 10 inches fell Monday, causing landslides, flooding roads and destroying at least one home.
Transylvania County Chairman Jason Chappell, a lifelong resident, said it was the most intense flooding he has seen in at least 20 years, and that he fears more damage to come. Floodwaters swamped a local factory Monday with several inches of water and damaged its parking lot.
“It really caught everyone off guard,” Chappell said. “No one was forecasting that amount of rain.”
With Fred blowing in Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Ashley Pratt said Haywood, Transylvania and Jackson counties were likely to get the most rain, including another 6 to 8 inches in Transylvania.
One of the region’s major attractions, Grandfather Mountain State Park, closed on Monday. The North Carolina state park’s website said “trails are flooded and the water at stream crossings (is) dangerously high.”
At least three apparent tornadoes touched down in Georgia: One hit Americus, in the southwestern part of the state, one hit a rural area of Meriwether County, between Atlanta and Columbus, and one hit Jeffersonville, near Macon, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm hit Americus around 1:30 a.m., knocking over trees, with some falling on houses, and downing power lines, WRBL-TV reported.
An Academy Sports warehouse near Jeffersonville was hit by another likely tornado before 6 a.m., with metal siding torn off the building, a semi truck trailer tipped over and Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum telling WMAZ-TV that eight boats were scattered around by the storm. Weather officials warned of a tornado in the Jeffersonville area as well.
Heavy rains drenched parts of metro Atlanta just before dawn Tuesday, snarling commutes.