Dangerous days ahead for the Southeast
AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter explains the danger ahead for much of the Southeast due to catastrophic flooding from heavy rains associated with Debby.
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00:00Yeah, we want to bring in joining me right now, Accuweather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter, and you know, John, for the last 10 days, we when we saw this tropical wave coming off Africa, and it was very complicated because there was also some other energy that formed with that tropical wave, we knew that this would be a late bloomer that once this storm got into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, that's what we'd have to be concerned about a hurricane.
00:25That's exactly what happened landfall this morning, southern Taylor County, and then we also talked about a very slow move beyond landfall.
00:35Our Accuweather eyepath hasn't changed at all.
00:38No, it hasn't.
00:39And Bernie, we issued our first forecast 18 hours in advance of any other known source and ahead of the National Hurricane Center, because that's we do it here at Accuweather keep people better protected and safer.
00:51And you're right, just as Accuweather accurately forecast the storm intensified to a hurricane.
00:55Now, the big issue is we're just getting started.
00:58Bernie, this is going to turn into a major flooding disaster across parts of the southeast.
01:04Please do not let your guard down on these serious rain and storm surge impacts that are to come.
01:10John, have we discussed putting a catastrophic in that area of Georgia and South Carolina because of the rainfall?
01:19Is that something that we are considering at this point?
01:23We are considering it.
01:24We have the extreme on there right now to highlight just how dangerous and how unusual situation this is going to be.
01:32Some areas receiving 18 to 24 inches of rainfall with an Accuweather local storm max of 32 inches.
01:38Bernie, that is near the state record for rainfall, tropical storms or hurricanes.
01:43And some of these in South Carolina and also North Carolina, Georgia as well.
01:47John, I want to talk about our Accuweather real impact scale, because you'll notice for the U.S. we have an Accuweather real impact scale of a three, even though this is going to lose intensity and go to a tropical storm.
01:59And, you know, one of the ways we measure hurricanes in the meteorological field is the Saffir-Simpson scale.
02:07But there's a flaw with that scale, John.
02:10It's got a big problem.
02:11It only includes the wind intensity.
02:13So look at this type of situation.
02:15This is exactly why we developed the Accuweather real impact scale for hurricanes, is to describe, better describe the holistic view of the risk that a tropical storm or hurricane can pose.
02:26So it's going to be a tropical storm here when it affects parts of southeast Georgia and the Carolinas, but a three on Accuweather's real impact scale for hurricanes.
02:37Yeah, and there's the difference, John.
02:38Again, Saffir-Simpson scale is just wind.
02:41But for the Accuweather real impact for hurricanes, we have four categories that we measure.
02:48We do.
02:49It obviously includes the wind, but we also look at the flooding rain impacts, the storm surge impacts and total damage and economic loss.
02:55So this is exclusively the most holistic view of a risk that a tropical storm or hurricane can cause in various places.
03:03Why do we do this?
03:04So people can be better informed and understand their risks so they can make better decisions.
03:09This is for people.
03:10This is for businesses, for government officials, so they can recognize just how severe this situation is going to be and prepare.
03:18Right now, again, the Accuweather real impact scale beginning at a less than one.
03:22That's when we're talking about some damage.
03:24And then we start talking about a four and five where we're looking at catastrophic and long-duration damage.
03:31Right now, John, we're going with a three.
03:35We are, and that is to highlight that significant flooding risk.
03:38It's going to be life-threatening.
03:40We're going to be talking about water covering all kinds of things like roadways across parts of Southeast Georgia up into the Carolinas.
03:48If you have friends or family in that area, please give them a call.
03:51Help them by understanding the urgency of this particular situation, especially if you live in a low-lying area and your waterways, river, creek, streams, or bays.
04:02This is going to be a situation where there's water over everything and burning.
04:06Tragically, over 85% of the fatalities that happen in tropical storms and hurricanes happen as a result of the water, especially from people driving in areas where water covers the road.
04:16So please remember to stay safe in this situation.
04:19It's going to be a long-duration event.
04:21We have days and days of danger ahead.
04:23AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter.
04:26John, thanks for joining us.