COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said a "lot of water" is coming to the state from Tropical Storm Debby but that state agencies are prepared to respond.
McMaster spoke at the South Carolina Emergency Operations Center in West Columbia late Monday, where teams are preparing for a long week as Debby threatens the state.
"This is an animal that we don’t think that we have seen before, so we must be very prepared. Not only those involved in providing services, but the everyday citizen out there needs to be alert and be prepared," McMaster said.
"These things are unpredictable, and this water is dangerous. And we don’t know what we’re going to expect," McMaster added.
Myra Reece, Director of Environmental Affairs for the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, said the state is implementing changes based on what it learned after previous storms. She said some dams have already started to release water, but there has been coordination with those downstream.
"When any dam is considering releasing some of the water, they are coordinating that release downstream. That’s one of the lessons learned from previous storms, and I think our dam owners are very sensitive about that, and make sure that they do that before they start releasing water," Reece said.
Flooding will be the main concern as Debby impacts the state. As a precaution, water levels at Lake Murray were lowered in recent days.
South Carolina Emergency Management Director Kim Stenson said flooding is the number one cause of deaths in a tropical system. He said just six inches of water can knock people off their feet.
Stenson said the state's emergency operations center is now running 24 hours a day to coordinate response efforts and said sandbags and swift water rescue teams are on standby. Justin Powell, the leader of SCDOT, said they've moved crews from the Upstate further south to deal with problems.
State officials aren't the only ones preparing for the storm. Local grocers are also gearing up to serve their customers.
Nicholas Lanz is an assistant manager at the Piggly Wiggly store on Devine St. in Columbia. He says his store is stocking up on extra items to make sure they have enough.
"A lot of people go after things like bread and milk. So we try and have that on-hand. Water too. But it’s very hard to predict. Sometimes a storm will be coming, and we think it will be really bad and then nothing happens. Other times it’s just out of the blue. But we try to be prepared," Lanz said.
Debby made landfall in Florida Monday morning and is pushing through Georgia and eventually will make its way to South Carolina's coast. It's expected to stall off the coast for about a day or so, and that will allow the system to dump torrential rain for hours. Some models are forecasting 10+ inches of rain across much of the southern half of the state, with 20+ possible right along the coast.
The heaviest rain could be Tuesday through Thursday.
McMaster issued a state of emergency for South Carolina Sunday afternoon. A state of emergency does not mean that conditions for the storm are present; rather, it allows the state to begin making preparations. The state's emergency operations plan is now enabled and allows state agencies to begin coordinating.
Several school districts in the Midlands have begun adjusting plans in response to the storm, with several choosing to go to an e-learning day. Others said they are still evaluating their plans.