Watching Joaquin, heavy rain ahead

Associated Press video journalist Tony Winton in Miami contributed to this report, along with Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington. “Freeport, Grand Bahama, Eleuthera and other tourist areas are also being closely monitored”.

The district will make up the day later in October.

The 790-foot cargo ship vanished 72 hours ago, near the eye of Hurricane Joaquin.

“But without even a direct landfall, there will be significant flooding through the Carolinas, through Virginia, and all the way up the East Coast”.

The governor spoke Thursday from the Maryland Emergency Management Agency in Reisterstown.

Regardless of the storm’s eventual path, utilities up and down the coast spent the better part of the week gearing up. But whatever track Joaquin takes, “we’re becoming increasingly confident and concerned about the heavy rainfall”.

The centre said swells generated by Joaquin will continue to affect portions of the Bahamas over the next few days. He declared a state of emergency on Thursday.

The Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in South Carolina recorded 2.3 inches of rain Saturday, smashing the previous record of 0.77 inches set in 1961, according to John Tomko, National Weather Service meteorologist at Greenville-Spartanburg.

McCrory says Outer Banks towns are facing special risks because rain there has been coming almost nonstop for a week followed by a weekend nor’easter that’s chewed up protective sand dunes.

“This is not just any rain”, Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina said. The rainfall will reach into the Southeast and the Tennessee Valley with flash-flood threats in several states, including parts of New Jersey, Georgia and North Carolina. It’s not uncommon for streets on the base to flood during storms.

“These kind of prolific rainfalls are not unprecedented, but this is definitely one for the history books”, said NWS forecaster Dave Loewenthal in Wilmington.

The flooding was mostly localized.

There are still two different areas of concern and one is looking just as bad as before. “I certainly hope that something of that proportion doesn’t happen again”.

The 790-foot El Faro was battered by 20- to 30-foot waves as Joaquin was a Category 4 storm.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol responded to more than 300 collisions around the state in the 12 hours leading up to 6 a.m. It cleared almost 140 trees from roads. There was no word on the survivor’s condition, and the driver of the second vehicle was not hurt. Palafox said she had discussed the forecast with Arteaga earlier this week, and she hadn’t seemed concerned. A road that runs behind the shop was closed.

Local news showed dramatic images of flooding around the city, including rescuers wading into waist-deep water to help drivers trapped at a busy intersection. “Don’t get on the roadways because you very likely can become part of the problem”.

“It validates our search efforts and while we are disappointed we did not find the ship today we are hopeful”, Coast Guard spokeswoman Marilyn Fajardo said.

At least five weather-related deaths have been reported since rains began spreading over the Eastern Seaboard, which appeared to dodge the full fury of Hurricane Joaquin that’s veering out to sea.

The steady downpour arose from a slow-moving low-pressure system over the south east that has linked up to a finger of tropical moisture from Hurricane Joaquin.