Debby strengthens into Category 1 Hurricane

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Debby has strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane overnight Sunday and is expected to bring historic heavy rainfall across the southeast.

Hurricane Debby is expected to make landfall Monday along portions of the Florida Big Bend region.

“Our confidence in extreme rain across all of the Lowcountry – in fact, the entire eastern half of the state is increasing. We’re also watching for the possibility of wind and tornado issues over the next few days as well,” says meteorologist Josh Marthers.

The National Weather Service warns that Georgia and South Carolina could likely see catastrophic flooding from heavy rainfall through Friday morning.

“Overnight tonight and especially during the day tomorrow [Tuesday] we think our probability of flooding really begins to increase as bands of heavy rain move through. It’s not going to rain the entire time – but these bands will be extremely intense and slow-moving, so they’re going to rack up the rain totals pretty quickly,” Marthers added.

Inside the Lowcountry, Storm Team 2 predicts rain totals of 20 inches or greater in some areas, resulting in an extreme flooding rain threat for the entire Lowcountry. Wind threats are expected to begin late Tuesday into Thursday with 30-50 mph gusts.

Storm Team 2 says there is an increasing risk of isolated tornadoes starting Monday afternoon and potentially lasting into Wednesday.