‘Life-threatening’ flooding seen in video as storm hits land

“Life-threatening” flooding caused by potential Tropical Cyclone Eight was captured on video Monday as the storm made landfall near the North Carolina-South Carolina state border.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) began issuing advisories on Sunday for the storm, which was raging off the southeastern coast of the United States at the time, and warned of the “life-threatening” effects of flash flooding in a social media post. post on Monday. Meteorologists were tracking the storm, which was likely to develop into Tropical Storm Helene, the eighth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Although the storm reached tropical storm strength, it never achieved the necessary structure to be classified as a tropical storm, said Dan Brown, the branch chief of the NHC’s Hurricane Special Unit Newsweek.

Although the storm was never classified as a tropical storm, it poses a significant threat to North Carolina. Video footage showed the extent of the flash flooding that occurred in Carolina Beach in the southeast of the state.

“Wild flash flooding in #carolinabeach and southeast #NorthCarolina,” documentary filmmaker Jonathan Petramala posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. His post included a video of widespread flooding in the city.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Wilmington, North Carolina, also commented on the severity of the flooding.

“Roads are flooded at least three feet deep in parts of Carolina Beach,” NWS Wilmington posted on X, along with a photo showing floodwaters reaching halfway up a pickup truck. “No car or truck is designed to safely travel in floodwaters this high. Please stay off the roads.”

More than 12 inches of rain fell in the Carolina Beach area, which was “extremely unusual,” said NWS meteorologist Tim Armstrong NewsweekThe storm is now threatening heavy rainfall of between 3 and 6 inches for Brunswick, North Carolina.

Armstrong said it will take some time for floodwaters in Carolina Beach to recede, as high tide is set to arrive at 6:30 p.m. local time tonight. However, once the high tide passes, floodwaters will recede quickly, he said.

Calm weather is forecast for the next few days, which will make clean-up efforts easier, Armstrong added.

One of the biggest dangers of the storm is rainfall, Brown said, as well as tropical storm-force winds and the threat of tornadoes.

“These winds are already decreasing and will continue to decrease as the system moves inland,” Brown said, adding that the threat of locally heavy rainfall will shift to the Mid-Atlantic states in the next few days.

As of Monday afternoon, a tropical storm warning, a flash flood warning, a tornado warning and numerous other weather-related warnings were in effect for the North Carolina and South Carolina coast.

In addition to potential Tropical Cyclone Eight, the NHC is also monitoring Tropical Depression Gordon.