Rainmaker Beryl poses flood threat in South

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 9:30 AM EDT, Tue May 29, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Beryl has dumped 12.65 inches of rain on Midway, Florida, the National Weather Service says
• Tropical depression is forecast to head toward South Carolina’s coast, then back out to sea
• The National Hurricane Center says Beryl “could regain tropical storm status” Wednesday
• Dangerous rip currents are still possible from northeastern Florida to North Carolina

(CNN) – After dumping more than a foot of rain in at least one location, Tropical Depression Beryl continued to soak the South on Tuesday, prompting flood watches and warnings from Florida to North Carolina.

Through Tuesday morning, the town of Midway, Florida, about 12 miles west of Tallahassee, had received a total of 12.65 inches of rain from Beryl, according to the National Weather Service.

Other notable storm rainfall totals include more than 8 inches in Cooks Hammock, Florida, about 73 miles northwest of Gainesville; and 6 inches in Branford and Arlington, Florida. The 3.25 inches measured in Gainesville broke a daily record, the weather service said.

As of early Tuesday, the center of Beryl was about 10 miles northwest of Valdosta, Georgia, and about 160 miles west-southwest of Savannah. Its maximum sustained winds were at about 30 mph with higher gusts.

Beryl was slogging north at about 2 mph, but was forecast to turn toward the northeast Tuesday and head toward the coast of South Carolina before pushing back out to sea.

“Some strengthening is likely as Beryl approaches the coastline and accelerates on Wednesday, when Beryl could regain tropical storm status,” the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday.

Beryl was expected to produce 5 to 10 inches of rain over northern Florida and southeastern Georgia, with maximum amounts of 15 inches possible in some places, forecasters said. In eastern South Carolina and North Carolina, Beryl is forecast to drop 3 to 6 inches of rain.

“There are still going to be some wind gusts in the 30- to 40-mph range,” at least for about 12 to 18 more hours, CNN meteorologist Sarah Dillingham said. Areas including the Outer Banks of North Carolina could see heavy rain, she said.

Dangerous rip currents remained possible from northeastern Florida to North Carolina, the hurricane center said.

Flash flood and flood watches were posted on the South Carolina and North Carolina coasts Tuesday. Flood warnings, watches and advisories remained in effect for parts of Florida and Georgia.

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Tuna contaminated with Fukushima radiation found in California

Scientists amazed that bluefins swimming in Pacific five months after Japanese disaster contained tiny amounts of caesium

• DT

The Japanese government says it will look into international monitoring of fish products after low levels of radiation were found in bluefin tuna in Californian watersLink to this videoBluefin tuna contaminated with radiation believed to be from FukushimaDaiichi turned up off the coast of California just five months after the Japanese nuclear plant suffered meltdown last March, US scientists said.Tiny amounts of caesium-137 and caesium-134 were detected in 15 bluefin caught near San Diego in August last year, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.The levels were 10 times higher than those found in tuna in the same area in previous years, but still well below those that the Japanese and US governments consider a risk to health. Japan recently introduced a new safety limit of 100 becquerels per kilogram in food.

The timing of the discovery suggests that the fish, a prized but dangerously overfished delicacy in Japan, had carried the radioactive materials across the Pacific ocean faster than those conveyed by wind or water.

The researchers, led by Daniel Madigan at Stanford University, said they had found evidence that the fish had been contaminated at “modestly elevated” levels with caesium. The chemical was released into the ocean in the wake of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi on 11 March 2011.

Madigan told Reuters: “I wouldn’t tell anyone what’s safe to eat or what’s not safe to eat. It’s become clear that some people feel that any amount of radioactivity, in their minds, is bad and they’d like to avoid it. But compared to what’s there naturally … and what’s established as safety limits, it’s not a large amount at all.”

The fish are thought to have been exposed to radiation for about a month before beginning their journey east across the Pacific. They were found to contain 4 becquerels per kilogram of caesium-134 and 6.3 becquerels per kilogram of caesium-137, the report said. A 2008 study of fish in the area found no evidence of caesium-134, which is produced only by nuclear power plants and weapons, and caesium-134 only at levels that naturally occur in the environment.

The results “are unequivocal. Fukushima was the source”, said Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who played no part in the research.

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura, conceded that the findings suggested the monitoring of radiation levels in fish outside Japanese waters may have to be stepped up.

The spawning and migratory patterns of bluefin tuna indicate that the issue of contaminated fish will be confined to Pacific coastlines.

Bluefin spawn only in the western Pacific, off the coasts of Japan and the Philippines. Some juvenile or adolescent fish migrate east to the coast of California coast and remain there to fatten up.

Scientists say they do not believe contamination will linger in large fish capable of swimming farther afield, as they are able to metabolise and excrete radioactive substances.

The fish examined in the US study weighed an average of 15 pounds. They had shed some of the radionuclides during their journey but had been unable to flush them out altogether.

“We were frankly kind of startled,” said Nicholas Fisher, an expert at Stony Brook University in New York who took part in the study. “That’s a big ocean. To swim across it and still retain these radionuclides is pretty amazing.”

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Tokyo Electric Power, estimates that 18,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials flowed into the Pacific after the accident, either in the form of fallout, or through mixing with water that leaked from the facility. A terabecquerel is equal to 1tn becquerels.

• More on this story

• Fukushima radiation found in tuna off California – videoThe Japanese government says it will look into international monitoring of fish products after low levels of radiation were found in bluefin tuna in Californian waters

  Read more in “Fukushima; Nuclear Disaster on the Ring of Fire.” This appears to be the only book in English about this tragedy. See Strawberry Hill Press tab at the top of this page.

   

Utility Says It Underestimated Radiation Released in Japan

By REUTERS

Published: May 24, 2012

TOKYO (Reuters) — The amount of radioactive materials released in the first days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster was almost two and a half times the initial estimate by Japanese safety regulators, the operator of the crippled plant said in a report released on Thursday.

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The operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, said the meltdowns it believes took place at three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant released about 900,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances into the air during March 2011. The accident, which followed an earthquake and a tsunami, occurred on March 11.

The latest estimate was based on measurements suggesting the amount of iodine-131 released by the nuclear accident was much larger than previous estimates, the utility said in the report. Iodine-131 is a fast-decaying radioactive substance produced by fission that takes place inside a nuclear reactor. It has a half-life of eight days and can cause thyroid cancer.

It is difficult to judge the health effects of the larger-than-reported release, since even the latest number is an estimate, and it does not clarify how much exposure people received or continue to receive from contaminated soil and food. Experts have been divided on the health impacts since the disaster because the studies of assessing radiation risks are based mainly on a different type of exposure — the large doses delivered quickly by the atomic bombs in Japan in 1945.

Although people who lived closest to the plant were evacuated, many people remain in areas with significantly higher radiation levels than normal.

Tokyo Electric said it had initially been unable to accurately judge the amount of radioactive materials released soon after the accident because radiation sensors closest to the plant were disabled in the disaster.

“If this information had been available at the time, we could have used it in planning evacuations,” a spokesman for Tokyo Electric, Junichi Matsumoto, said at a news conference.

More than 99 percent of the radiation released by the accident came in the first three weeks, the utility company added.

The newly released information is likely to add to concerns among many Japanese that they were never told the extent of the accident or the risks it posed.

A terabecquerel is a trillion becquerels, a commonly used measure of the radiation emitted by a radioactive material.

 Read more in “Fukushima, Nuclear Crisis on the Ring of Fire.” See Strawberry Hill Press tab on the top of this page.

Beryl Downgraded To A Depression

By Maria Molina

Published May 28, 2012

Fox News Latino

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  In an image provided by the National Oceanic and Geographic Authority, shows s GOES satellite image of Tropical Storm Beryl as it makes landfall in Florida early Sunday May 28, 2011. The storm made landfall in northeastern Florida, bringing drenching rains and driving winds to the southeastern U.S. coast, forecasters said. (AP Photo/NOAA)

According to the AP, Tropical Storm Beryl threatened to soak military remembrance ceremonies and beach vacations on Memorial Day as it brought drenching rain, winds and the possibility of flooding to the southeastern U.S. coast. The storm made landfall in Florida just after midnight

Monday near Jacksonville Beach in Florida with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph (113 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Thousands had lost power in southern Georgia and northeastern Florida.

Beryl continues to weaken and has been downgraded by the National Hurricane Center to a tropical depression with maximum sustained winds of 35mph. Its forecast to make a turn to the right and head in a more Northward direction later today before getting caught in a trough and moving Northeastward along the Georgia and South Carolina coastlines.

Beryl will produce heavy rain from North Florida to Southern South Carolina, 4-8 inches will be possible, locally a foot. These areas need the rain since there is a drought still in place, however, too much rain too fast can lead to flash flooding. Rip currents and rough surf will continue to be a concern.

Beryl made landfall a little after midnight last night near Jacksonville, FL with maximum sustained winds of 70mph.

Includes reporting from the Associated Press.

Maria Molina has been a meteorologist for the Fox News Channel since October 2010. She graduated from Florida State University with a degree in meteorology and was granted the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) designation from the American Meteorological Society.

 

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/05/28/beryl-downgraded-to-depression/#ixzz1wBjTxQBD

Grapefruit-sized organ helps whales swallow big mouthfuls

May 25 2012 at 09:00am

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APFILE – In this Oct. 25, 2011 photo provided by the Santa Cruz Conference and Visitors Council, kayaker Alan Brady is surprised by two breaching humpback whales while kayaking off the coast of Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz, Calif. The U.S. Coast Guard is warning people to stay away from a pod of whales that has settled unusually close to the shore off Santa Cruz or face fines for whale harassment of at least $2,500. The agency plans to monitor the waters on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Santa Cruz Conference and Visitors Council , Paul Schraub, file)

LONDON: A new sensory organ has been discovered in the jaws of giant whales that may help them “lunge-feed” to swallow huge numbers of crustaceans and small fish.

The grapefruit-sized organ has protrusions filled with nerves and is suspended in a gel-like material.

Scientists believe it responds to jaw rotation when a whale opens and closes its mouth, and expands its vast throat pouch to take in water, but they are still trying to understand precisely how this lunge-feeding mechanism works.

“We think this sensory organ sends information to the brain in order to co-ordinate the complex mechanism of lunge-feeding, which involves rotating the jaws, inverting the tongue and expanding the throat pleats and blubber layer,” said lead researcher Dr Nick Pyenson, from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Rorqual whales, which include blue, fin, minke and humpback whales, feed by lunging forward and gulping more than their own body weight of water.

Millions of krill, tiny crustaceans, and small fish are then filtered out in a process that takes seconds.

Co-author Professor Bob Shadwick, from the University of British Columbia in Canada, said: “In terms of evolution, the innovation of this sensory organ has a fundamental role in one of the most extreme feeding methods of aquatic creatures.

“Because the physical features required to carry out lunge-feeding evolved before the extremely large body sizes observed in today’s rorquals, it’s likely that this sensory organ – and its role in co-ordinating successful lunging – is responsible for rorquals claiming the largest-animals-on-Earth status.

“This also demonstrates how poorly we understand the basic functions of these top predators of the ocean and underlines the importance for biodiversity conservation.” – Daily Mail

Read more in coastal books. See tabs at top of this page.

Tropical Storm Beryl could snarl holiday traffic

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press – 29 minutes ago

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Tropical Storm Beryl threatened to soak military remembrance ceremonies and beach vacations on Memorial Day as it brought drenching rain, winds and the possibility of flooding to the southeastern U.S. coast.

The storm made landfall in Florida just after midnight Monday near Jacksonville Beach in Florida with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70 mph (113 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Thousands had lost power in southern Georgia and northeastern Florida.

The weather system was expected to continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia on Monday.

Except for ruining holiday plans, the rain was welcome along Georgia’s 100-mile coast that’s been parched by persistent drought. In McIntosh County south of Savannah, emergency management chief Ray Parker said a few roadways had been flooded for a brief time but the ground was quickly soaking up the 1 to 2 inches of rainfall that had fallen so far.

“We’ve needed it for a long time,” said Parker, who said the worst damage in his county had been caused by trees falling on two homes overnight. “We were lucky that we didn’t get 3 to 4 inches in 30 minutes. Most of it soaked right in before it had a chance to run off. It fell on an empty sponge.”

Beryl was forecast to weaken as it moves inland Monday and Tuesday. And as a frontal system comes down from the Great Lakes, Beryl was expected to move out into the Atlantic Ocean. Georgia Power reported more than 3,000 people had lost power overnight. Jacksonville city officials say 20,000 were without power there.

The weather system is expected to complicate holiday traffic after ruining some weekend plans. It caused shoreline campers to pack up and head inland and led to the cancellation of some events.

“I don’t mean to sound mushy, but I today is Memorial Day and I hate that it ruined some plans,” said Glynn County, Ga., emergency management director Jay Wiggins. “But that’s just the nature of the weather.” His county between Savannah and Jacksonville also had some downed trees and power outages, but there the rain is also welcome.

“I know it had a lot of folks worried, but it certainly will help us,” he said.

A tropical storm warning was in effect early Monday for coastal areas from Flagler Beach, Fla. to the Savannah River in Georgia. At 8 a.m., the storm was 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Jacksonville and was moving west near 8 mph (13 kph). The storm’s maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 40 mph (65 kph).

Flood warnings were issued for areas in Florida around Jacksonville. Thousands in Florida were without power, The Florida Times-Union reported early Monday.

Beryl was expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain to parts, with some areas getting as much as 12 inches. Forecasters said the storm surge and high tide could bring 2 to 4 feet of flooding in northeastern Florida and Georgia, and 1 to 2 feet in southern South Carolina.

Campers at Cumberland Island, Ga., which is reachable only by boat, were told to leave by 4:45 p.m. Sunday. The island has a number of undeveloped beaches and forests popular with campers.

However, many people seemed determined to make the best of the soggy forecast Sunday.

In Georgia, at Greyfield Inn, a 19th-century mansion and the only private inn on Cumberland Island, the rooms were nearly full Sunday and everyone was planning to stay put through the wet weather, said Dawn Drake, who answered the phone at the inn’s office on the Florida coast.

In Jacksonville, Sunday’s jazz festival and Memorial Day ceremony were canceled.

But business was booming at the Red Dog Surf Shop in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., where customers flocked to buy boards and wax in anticipation of the storm’s high waves. Officials along the coast warned of rip currents, waves and high tides — all of which can be dangerous but also tend to attract adventurous surfers. The Coast Guard said crews in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina rescued three people and a dog from a sinking recreational vessel late Sunday morning.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Kay from Miami, Kate Brumback from Atlanta, Meg Kinnard from Columbia, S.C., and Jackie Quinn from Washington contributed to this report.

Read more in “Just Seconds from the Ocean; Coastla Living in the Wake of Katrina.” See UPNE tab at the top of this page.

Tropical Storm Beryl hits north-east Florida

• World news
• Florida

Weather system expected to continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia before weakening as it moves inland

• guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 May 2012 06.05 EDT

Strong waves batter Folly Beach Pier as Beryl brushes past the South Carolina coast, heading for Florida. Photograph: Richard Ellis/Getty Images

Tropical Storm Beryl made landfall early on Monday in north-eastFlorida, bringing drenching rains and driving winds to the southeastern US coast on the country’s Memorial Day holiday, forecasters said.

The storm hit Florida around 12:10am with near-hurricane-strength winds of 70mph (113kph), according to the US national hurricane centre. It was expected to continue dumping rain over Florida and Georgia on Monday, before weakening as it moves inland and then heads out into the Atlantic Ocean.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect early on Monday for coastal areas of Florida and South Carolina, causing shoreline campers to pack up and head inland, with delays expected to holiday traffic.

The Florida governor, Rick Scott, urged residents in the affected areas to “stay alert and aware”.

“Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to bring heavy rain and winds, and it is vital to continue to monitor local news reports and listen to the advice of local emergency management officials,” Scott said in a statement on Sunday evening.

Campers at Cumberland Island, Georgia, which is accessible only by boat, were told to leave by 4:45 pm on Sunday. The island has a number of undeveloped beaches and forests popular with campers.

At Greyfield Inn, a 19th-century mansion and the only private inn on Cumberland Island, the rooms were almost all booked on Sunday and everyone was planning to stay put through the wet weather, said Dawn Drake, who answered the phone at the inn’s office on the Florida coast.

In Jacksonville, Florida, Sunday’s jazz festival and Memorial Day ceremony were cancelled. Workers were also out clearing tree limbs and debris. Winds had already knocked down trees and power lines in parts of coastal Georgia, leaving hundreds without electricity.

But business was booming at the Red Dog Surf Shop in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where customers flocked to buy boards in anticipation of the storm’s high waves. Officials along the coast warned of rip currents, waves and high tides – all of which can be dangerous but also tend to attract adventurous surfers. The waters had already become dangerous in South Carolina, where rescuers were searching for a missing swimmer.

The coastguard said crews in Charleston harbour rescued three people and a dog from a sinking vessel on Sunday.

Read more in “Just Seconds From the Ocean, Coastal Living in the Wake of Katrina,” and “Storm Surge; A Coastal Village Battles the Atlantic.” See UPNE tabs at the top of this page.

HOT & HUMID WITH STORMS PUSHING INLAND

Posted: May 27, 2012 5:34 PM EDTUpdated: May 27, 2012 5:34 PM EDT

By Kira Miner, Meteorologist - email

A few showers and thunderstorms will continue to push eastbound across our inland communities for the remainder of our Sunday afternoon with daytime highs approaching the lower 90s.

Beryl is now a Tropical Storm packing winds of 65 mph as it approaches the Northern Florida coastline. Currently, Beryl is 110 miles east of Jacksonville and will make landfall late tonight and into early Monday morning near the Florida/Georgia border.

Tropical Storm Beryl poses no threat to Southwest Florida for your Memorial Day holiday, however our winds will make a bit of a shift. Onshore flow off the Gulf of Mexico will continue through the first part of the week. This means a few coastal showers could wash in from the Gulf before reaching the urban corridor by midday. By the afternoon, much of the rain activity will get pushed east of I 75 and across our inland communities.

Our weather for the upcoming week will remain hot and humid with highs in the lower 90s and lows in the mid 70s.

Read more in “Storm Surge.” See UPNE tabs at the top of this page.

Beryl now a tropical storm, nears S.E. coast

May 27, 2012 7:17 AM

• PRINT
• TEXT

• comments

Tropical Storm Beryl approaching the southeastern United States Sunday, May 27, 2012. (NOAA)

Last Updated 3:09 p.m.

(CBS/AP) Forecasters say Beryl is now a tropical storm as it moves ever closer to the southeastern U.S.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday that Beryl had gotten slightly stronger, with maximum sustained winds now at 65 mph. Beryl was centered about 110 miles east of Jacksonville, Florida, and about 120 miles southeast of Brunswick, Georgia.

Beryl is projected to make landfall late Sunday or early Monday, though tropical storm conditions are expected to reach the U.S. coast hours before that. Once it makes landfall, Beryl will continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia before slowly moving back out to sea.

On Sunday afternoon, it was moving west near 10 mph.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina. Once Beryl comes ashore, it was expected to continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia on Monday before slowly moving back out to sea.

Beryl to bring rain, winds to southeast U.S. coast
Beryl to dampen Memorial Day along S.E. coast

Beryl already was wrecking some Memorial Day weekend plans on Sunday, sending shoreline campers packing to head inland and canceling some events in the southeastern U.S.

Beryl was still well offshore, but officials in Georgia and Florida were already bracing for drenching rains and driving winds. Campers at Cumberland Island, which is reachable only by boat, were told to leave by 4:45 p.m. The island has a number of undeveloped beaches and forests popular with campers.

However, many people seemed determined to make the best of the soggy forecast.

At Greyfield Inn, a 19th-century mansion and the only private inn on Cumberland Island, the rooms were nearly full Sunday and everyone was planning to stay put through the wet weather, said Dawn Drake, who answered the phone at the inn’s office on the Florida coast.

In Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday’s jazz festival and Memorial Day ceremony were canceled. Workers are also out clearing tree limbs and debris that could be tossed about by the storm’s winds, which had reached 65 mph Sunday.

But business was booming at Red Dog Surf Shop in New Smyrna Beach, where customers flocked to buy boards and wax in anticipation of the storm’s high waves. Officials all along the coast warned of rip currents, waves and high tides — all of which can be dangerous but also tend to attract adventurous surfers.

Joe Murphy, a spokesman for the Ritz Carlton in Amelia Island, said he was not seeing a flood of checkouts or people trying to get off the island. The hotel expected about 140 checkouts out of 466 rooms, he said.

Outdoor dining had been moved inside and the hotel set up movies and family game activities, but the hotel had no plans to board up or move patio furniture inside.

“So far it’s kind of business as usual.”

Read more in “Storm Surge,” see UPNE tab at the top of this page.

Subtropical storm Beryl threatens to drench beachgoers on southeast US coast

Published May 27, 2012

Associated Press

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  May 25, 2012: This image provided by NASA shows Subtropical Storm Beryl along the South Carolina Georgia coastlines. (AP)

SAVANNAH, Ga. –  Subtropical storm Beryl began moving faster toward an expected landfall Sunday night on the Southeast U.S. coast, threatening Memorial Day beachgoers with forecast conditions of dangerous surf and drenching rains from northeast Florida up through a swath of the Carolinas.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center said. Forecasters at the center in Miami said the system of powerful thunderstorms was expected to make landfall sometime Sunday night in the region.

Beryl was technically considered a “subtropical storm,” but the system of menacing storms was expected to bring winds and rain to the area regardless of its official classification.

At 5 a.m. EDT Sunday, Beryl was centered about 175 miles southeast of Savannah. Forecasters said the system had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving toward the west-southwest at 10 mph– up from a forward speed of 7 mph  reported hours earlier.

Tropical storm conditions — meaning maximum sustained winds of 45 mph — were expected to reach the coast late Sunday morning or afternoon and continue through the night. Three to six inches of rain were forecast for a wide area from northern Florida up the coast to the southeastern portion of North Carolina. Some coastal flooding also was in the forecast, as the rain could cause high tides.

Dangerous surf conditions, including rip currents, are possible from northeast Florida to North Carolina in the coming hours, forecasters added.

Meanwhile, little change in strength was expected before Beryl makes landfall and the storm system was then expected to weaken to a depression Monday once ashore, the center said.

The Southeast coast is popular with tourists who visit the beaches and wilderness areas and generally throng to many of its beach communities and resort towns each Memorial Day weekend.

“A three-day thunderstorm is what it’s probably going to be,” said Jay Wiggins, emergency management director for Glynn County, which is about 60 miles south of Savannah and includes Brunswick and St. Simons Island in Georgia. “Unfortunately, it’s going to ruin a lot of Memorial Day plans.”

Wiggins said he expects some flooded roadways and scattered power outages, perhaps some minor flooding in waterfront homes, but otherwise little damage. However, he urged beachgoers to beware of dangerous rip currents.

On Tybee Island, home to Georgia’s largest public beach east of Savannah, employees at Amy Gaster’s home and condo rental business were making sure arriving guests were aware of the approaching storm during the weekend. Gaster said her 180 rentals were sold out and nobody was canceling plans or asking to check out early.

While Georgia hasn’t taken a direct hit from a major hurricane in 114 years, the last time a tropical storm made landfall here was in August 1988. Tropical Storm Chris hit near Savannah but did little damage as it pushed northward into South Carolina.

In South Carolina, Beaufort County Emergency Management deputy director David Zeoli said Saturday that word went out to first-responders along the coast near the Georgia line to pay attention to the storm’s progress.