Flooding in US a worry as Irma starts losing steam

IRMA weakened to a tropical storm on Monday morning and was expected to further weaken to a tropical depression. But the storm is still dangerous. Storm surge and inland flooding, which cause the most deaths in tropical cyclones, remain a risk over the Southeastern states.

Around Jacksonville, Florida, a flash flood emergency was in effect due to record storm surge flooding.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) said many water rescues were under way.

Charleston, South Carolina, was also under a flash flood emergency.

“The combination of extremely high tides combined with heavy rain has resulted in widespread, dangerous flooding throughout downtown Charleston,” the NWS said.

Due to heavy rain and areas of flooding throughout South Carolina, the state’s emergency management division tweeted: “Dangerous conditions throughout much of South Carolina. Remain where you are if you’re safely able to do so.”

At 5pm local time, the storm centre was ploughing north-northwest through southern Georgia at 27km/h, about 240km south of Atlanta, Georgia. Peak sustained winds had dropped to 80km/h, but higher gusts were reported.

Tropical-storm-force winds, capable of downing trees and causing outages extended 668km from the storm’s centre.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport clocked a gust of 103km/h on Monday afternoon.

Water levels will continue to be elevated above normally dry land along a section of Florida’s Gulf Coast and in coastal Georgia and southern South Carolina.

A storm surge warning extended over these areas and the National Hurricane Centre warned that life-threatening coastal inundation was possible.

In areas where peak surge coincided with high tide, water levels were predicted to rise as much as 1.8m above normally dry land from the Georgia to central South Carolina coast on the storm’s Atlantic side and from near Clearwater, Florida, to the state’s Big Bend area on the Gulf of Mexico side.

The NWS reported that storm surge flooding in Jacksonville set a record on Monday as water covered downtown streets. Surge flooding also occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday.

Rain covered central and northern Georgia late on Monday afternoon, as well as all of South Carolina, and almost all of Alabama.

“Intense rainfall rates are leading to flash flooding and rapid rises on creeks, streams, and rivers,” the National Hurricane Centre said.

Into yesterday, the heaviest rains were due to spread into the western Carolinas and Tennessee, and northern Mississippi.

Through late Monday afternoon, widespread rainfall totals of 152mm to 254mm were reported over the Florida peninsula into south-east Georgia. – Washington Post

DANGEROUS CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT MUCH OF SOUTH CAROLINA. REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE IF YOU’RE ABLE TO