The National Weather Service said today that Tropical Storm Gordon could hit Marion County with heavy rains and high winds late Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday morning.
“This is the day to prepare,” Columbia Police Chief Michael Kelly said Monday.
Kelly met with police officers, school officials, fire department officials and Columbia-Marion County Animal Shelter officials Monday morning and they heard a briefing on the storm from National Weather Service Meteorologist Joanne Culin.
“We expect the tropical storm to make landfall early Wednesday,” she said. “On the Coast, storm surge will be a concern. Impacts further inland include heavy rain, wind gusts and the threat of tornadoes. The storm was upgraded to a tropical storm this morning.”
A hurricane watch has been issued for the Gulf Coast from Louisiana through Florida. Locally, Marion County is under a flash flood watch for the next several days.
“We would be on the northeast side of the storm,” Culin said. “We will have more impact than the other side. Currently we have a limited risk for winds to be sustained from 20 to 25 mph. We could see gusts to 39 mph. We need to be cognizant of the fact that with these gusts trees could fall. Wind gusts could affect the southern part of the state and the Pine Belt late Tuesday through Wednesday.”
Heavy rains could also be a threat with 4 to 6 inches possible on the Coast and less locally. Some areas could see more rain, according to the National Weather Service.
“We also wouldn’t rule out the potential of tornadoes,” Culin said.
After the Monday briefing, Kelly spoke about the upcoming storm and preparations.
“We just want to be very proactive in preparation for anything that may affect our community, especially our elderly and our special needs population,” he said. “We’re not expecting this to be catastrophic storm, but we know here in Columbia if we get an inch of rain we have some flooding issues. That’s the No. 1 thing, street flooding. We want to make sure they are closed properly. We always look at Main Street and want to protect our Main Street businesses.”
Kelly said he and Marion County Emergency Management Director Aaron Greer would be discussing sand bags and their availability.
“We will get that information out to the community as soon as we can,” he said. “Otherwise, we’ve asked the community to prepare for maybe their power being out for a few hours and just being prudent.”
For more on Tropical Storm Gordon, check back at columbianprogress.com for updates.
Caption: Marion County officials listen to a weather update Monday morning from the National Weather Service about Tropical Storm Gordon.
