Southeast U.S. braces for heavy rains from a potential tropical storm

"South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster put residents under a state of emergency in preparation for Tropical Depression 9, which is expected to make landfall early next week. "While the storm's arrival, speed, and intensity remain hard to predict, we do know that it will bring significant wind, heavy rainfall, and flooding across the ENTIRE state of South Carolina," McMaster said in a statement Friday. "We have seen this before. Now is the time to start paying attention to forecasts, updates, and alerts from official sources and begin making preparations," he said."

"The storm system is currently hovering over parts of the Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), and is expected to begin affecting eastern Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Hispaniola which includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti through the weekend as it intensifies into a tropical storm. By the time it lands stateside, the agency warned, it could have strengthened considerably more. "There is a significant threat of heavy rainfall early next week from coastal Georgia through the Carolinas and into the southern Mid-Atlantic states, which could cause flash, urban, and river flooding," the NHC said in a Saturday morning update. The storm could be "at or near hurricane intensity when it approaches the southeast," the agency said, adding that it was too soon to specify where it would land and how hard."

Parts of the southeastern United States are preparing for Tropical Depression 9, with a state of emergency declared in South Carolina. The system currently hovers over the Caribbean and is expected to affect eastern Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Hispaniola while intensifying into a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center warns of heavy rainfall from coastal Georgia through the Carolinas into the southern Mid-Atlantic, with risks of flash, urban, and river flooding. The agency said the storm could be at or near hurricane intensity when it approaches the Southeast, though specific landfall location and strength remain uncertain. Last year's Hurricane Helene caused widespread destruction in the region.

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