Tropical Storm Chantal Strengthens Slightly As It Nears Landfall In South Carolina
Tropical storm warnings were issued for portions of the two states, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The storm was about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Charleston, South Carolina, early Sunday and 85 miles (136 kilometers) southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 60 mph (96 kph), and it was moving north at 8 mph (13 kph).
Rain bands from Chantal were moving onshore, the hurricane center said, with flash floods an increasing concern. The storm was expected to make landfall in South Carolina in the next few hours and weaken rapidly as it continues over land.
Heavy rain was forecast for parts of North Carolina through Monday, with total rainfall of 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) and local amounts up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) that could lead to flash flooding.
South Carolina's Emergency Management division had warned residents earlier of the possibility of isolated tornadoes along the coast and of minor coastal flooding. It also warned drivers not to venture on water-covered roads or around road-closure signs where flooding occurred.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
Desperate search for missing girls as nearly 80 dead in Texas floods
HUNT, Texas: Rescuers in Texas raced against time Sunday to find dozens of missing people, including children, swept away by flash floods that killed at least 80 people, with forecasters warning of new deluges. US President Donald Trump said he would 'probably' visit the southern state on Friday. The president brushed off concerns his administration's wide-ranging cuts to weather forecasting and related federal agencies had left local warning systems worse-off. Instead, Trump described the flash floods as a '100-year catastrophe' that 'nobody expected.' At least 40 adults and 28 children were killed in the worst-hit Kerr County in central Texas, Sheriff Larry Leitha said, while at least ten more people were killed by flooding in nearby areas. 'You will see the death toll rise today,' warned Texas public safety chief Freeman Martin at a press conference. 'Across the state, in all the areas affected by flooding, there are 41 known missing,' Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. As questions grew about why warnings did not come sooner or people were not evacuated earlier in the area popular with campers, Trump said the situation was a 'Biden setup.' 'That was not our setup,' Trump told reporters on Sunday, adding that he would 'not' hire back meteorologists when probed about staff and budget cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS). Asked about whether he would change his plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he responded: 'FEMA is something we can talk about later.' Trump, who previously said disaster relief should be handled at the state-level, also signed a major disaster declaration that freed up resources for Texas. In central Texas, some 17 helicopters joined the search for missing people, including ten girls and a counselor from a riverside Christian summer camp where about 750 people had been staying when disaster struck. In a terrifying display of nature's power, the rain-swollen waters of the Guadalupe River reached treetops and the roofs of cabins in Camp Mystic as girls slept overnight Friday, washing away some of them and leaving a scene of devastation. Blankets, teddy bears and other belongings at the camp were caked in mud. Windows in the cabins were shattered, apparently by the force of the water. The National Weather Service (NWS) warned Sunday that slow-moving thunderstorms threatened more flash floods over the saturated ground of central Texas. Governor Abbott warned that heavy rainfall could 'lead to potential flash flooding' in Kerrville and surrounding areas, as officials warned people against going near the swollen river and its creeks. The flooding began at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours, much of it coming overnight as people slept. The Guadalupe surged around 26 feet (eight meters) — more than a two-story building — in just 45 minutes. Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual in this region of south and central Texas, known colloquially as 'Flash Flood Alley.' Scientists say that in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heat waves more frequent and more intense. Officials said while rescue operations were ongoing, they were also starting the process of debris removal. 'There's debris all over the place that makes roads impassable, that makes reconstruction projects unachievable,' Abbott said. People from elsewhere in Texas converged on Kerr County to help look for the missing. Texans also started flying personal drones to help look but local officials urged them to stop, citing a danger for rescue aircraft. One of the searches focused on four young women who were staying in a house that was washed away by the river. Adam Durda and his wife Amber, both 45, drove three hours to help. 'There was a group of 20-year-olds that were in a house that had gotten washed away,' Durda told AFP. 'That's who the family requested help for, but of course, we're looking for anybody.' Justin Morales, 36, was part of a search team that found three bodies, including that of a Camp Mystic girl caught up in a tree. 'We're happy to give a family closure and hopefully we can keep looking and find some of the... you know, whoever,' he told AFP. 'Help give some of those families closure. That's why we're out here.'
Al Arabiya
6 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Quick Action By One Texas Summer Camp Leads To Timely Evacuations Ahead Of Deadly Flood
It was about 1 a.m. on the Fourth of July when the facilities manager at a central Texas summer camp saw water from the Guadalupe River steadily rising amid a deluge of rain. Aroldo Barrera notified his boss, who had been monitoring reports of the storms approaching Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly–a recreation destination where an intercultural youth conference had been called off early just hours earlier. Despite an absence of warning by local authorities, camp officials acted quickly on their own, relocating about 70 children and adults staying overnight in a building near the river. 'With the kids safe, camp leaders, including President and CEO Tim Huchton, were able to avoid the catastrophe that hit at least one other camp near Hunt, where the 500-acre Mo-Ranch is located. They helped them pack up,' Lisa Winters, communications director for Mo-Ranch, told The Associated Press on Sunday. 'They got them up, they got them out, put them up on higher ground.' Other places fared much worse. Flash floods that roared through Texas Hill Country before dawn on Friday decimated the landscape near the river, leaving at least 78 dead and many others unaccounted for. As of Sunday, 10 girls from nearby Camp Mystic remained missing, officials said. Rescue and recovery teams combed the area for them and others still unaccounted for days after the flood. The decision to leave added to the mounting accounts of how camps and residents in the area say they were left to make their own decisions in the absence of warnings or notifications from the county. Local authorities have faced heavy scrutiny and, at times, have deflected questions about how much warning they had or were able to provide the public, saying the reviews will come later. For now, they say they're focusing on rescues. Officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour–the equivalent of months worth of rain for the area. Mo-Ranch suffered no loss of life, said Winters, adding that the camp received no direct information from county officials about flooding that could–and did–take lives. 'We had no warning this was coming,' Winters said, adding that it would have been devastating had camp officials not been looking at weather reports and the rising river waters. 'Mo-Ranch saw it coming well in advance, and they did something about it,' she said. By about 7 a.m. Friday, camp staff began contacting children's parents, telling them their kids were safe. 'They knew that those parents would wake up and just see all this media footage of kids lost or the river,' Winters said. 'They're like, 'Tell your parents you're OK.' … We made sure every single guest, every single kid was accounted for.' The camp, which sits on higher ground than some in the area, suffered some damage but not as significant as others, Winters said. 'The buildings don't matter,' she said. 'I can't imagine losing children or people.' She said a sturdy aluminum kayak was wrapped around a tree like a pretzel. 'That just shows you the sheer power of the water. I don't know how any people could survive. We're blessed,' she said. The camp remained closed Sunday, and Mo-Ranch was working on ways to help other camps affected by the flood. 'We're in a difficult place because others are really suffering,' said Winters, who became emotional during an interview. 'We're a sisterhood of camps. We take care of each other.'
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
Texas officials face scrutiny over response to catastrophic
KERRVILLE: Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend's house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him. Hours later, he was rushing to safety: He woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle-deep water. Quickly, his family scrambled nine people into the attic. Phones buzzed with alerts, Flowers recalled Saturday, but he did not remember when in the chaos they started. 'What they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now,' Flowers, 44, said. The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 43 people in Kerr County, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered. But as authorities launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history, they have come under intensifying scrutiny over preparations and why residents and youth summer camps that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate. The National Weather Service sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger. Local officials have insisted that no one saw the flood potential coming and have defended their actions. 'There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking,' said Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr County. 'There's a lot of people saying 'why' and 'how,' and I understand that.'
