Dangerous flooding continues to threaten East Coast

Storm chaser Aaron Rigsby is in South Carolina for the next landfall of Debby discussing the continued threat of flooding in the area.

Transcript

00:00Aaron, tell us where is Bolton here along the coastline, just for perspective,

00:04and are you planning to stay put there or head elsewhere for landfall tonight?

00:11Yeah, good evening Jeff. So Bolton is located about an hour northeast of Myrtle Beach and

00:15about an hour northwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, and the reason for the move is it was

00:19kind of like we touched on earlier, those rain bands have really filled in over the last couple

00:24of hours, and now we're really starting to see that training effect as it just pinwheels around

00:29Debbie. So I've been making my way up here because there's been several reports of some

00:32pretty significant flash flooding, vehicles stalled out, so this is going to shift the

00:36priority from my original plan, at least for the short term, in Myrtle Beach, document the flash

00:41flooding up here before making my way back for landfall in Myrtle Beach to cover that inevitable

00:46wind damage that's going to occur as this ground is already saturated. So we're probably going to

00:50see some trees falling, some power outages, along with that storm surge that's been really eating

00:55away at the beach line there at Myrtle Beach. Absolutely, and we are dealing with still some

00:59gusty squalls as you mentioned. There was a recent tornado threat west of Wilmington,

01:03North Carolina. That warning has come and gone, but we did have a couple of

01:06homes damaged by a tornado earlier today up into southern North Carolina as well.

01:11So overall, as you travel around today, what kinds of conditions have you seen? I know it

01:18hasn't been intense at all moments, but there have been areas within 100 miles of you at all times

01:22where there's at least something significant going on. Yeah, that's absolutely correct. I think

01:28that's what's throwing a lot of residents and visitors off about this system is typically with

01:32tropical storms and hurricanes. We see like those consistent conditions. Everyone hunkers down inside

01:37versus Debbie, where it's almost been deceptive, where people think it's in the clear. They start

01:41to venture out to try and enjoy their vacation. Another round of rain comes in, and those gusty

01:45winds come through, and then they have to be running back from the beach back to their safe

01:49spots. And it's funny you mentioned the tornado threat. We're actually going to be dealing with

01:53that again tomorrow as well into North Carolina into the Outer Banks. So this marathon continues

01:59tonight and into tomorrow. We're far from being out of the woods just yet. Yeah, very, very true.

02:03Well, Aaron, be safe out there, and I know it's going to be a long night here, any landfall, and

02:08this is the second landfall for this storm. You've been with us for a couple of multi-landfall storms

02:13this season here, and every storm is certainly different. So be safe out there. Thanks again,

02:18Storm Chaser Aaron Rigsby in Bolton, North Carolina.