BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Tropical Storm Debby is bringing prolonged downpours and flooding to Georgia and the Carolinas on Tuesday after slamming into Florida and prompting the rescue of hundreds from flooded homes.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for much of Georgia, making disaster assistance available for the effects of Hurricane Debby, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday.
The declaration authorizes FEMA to mobilize equipment and other resources to protect lives, property and public health, including coordinating evacuations and shelters.
So far, Coastal Southeast Georgia has been largely spared from major damage after Debby swept through overnight.
Glynn County said its shelter at Selden Park will close at noon Tuesday, along with its Emergency Operations Center.
Brunswick offices and Glynn County courts are closed Tuesday.
In Camden County, officials have reported some localized flooding, road debris and power outages, but no “major damage.”
The county issued an update that as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, it would no longer be under a state of emergency.
Camden County offices and courts and city offices will return to normal operations on Wednesday, and county waste services will resume. Everyone’s waste will be picked up one day late for the rest of the week to accommodate the delays from the storm.
Schools are scheduled to open in the county on Thursday.
Drivers were asked to continue to use extreme caution because of potential road debris, localized flooding and other safety concerns.
At a news conference Tuesday at Georgia’s emergency management center in Atlanta, Gov. Brian Kemp urged residents in the storm area to remain vigilant and stay off roads.
“Do not let this storm lull you to sleep,” he said.
Kemp said that in the best case, the storm area will get another 4 or 5 inches of rain. But he warned that another model showed the storm stalling and moving back into Georgia, dumping as much as 9 additional inches of rain.
Still, State Meteorologist Will Lanxton said the possibility of catastrophic flooding is much less likely.
Five people have been killed so far during the storm. A 13-year-old boy died when a tree fell on a mobile home southwest of Gainesville, Florida, and in Dixie County, near where Debby made landfall, a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy died in a car crash on wet roads. In south Georgia, a 19-year-old man died when a large tree fell onto a porch at a home in Moultrie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.