FLORIDA (AP) -- Tropical Storm Debby has moved into the U.S. Southeast with what are likely to be long torrential downpours and flooding after raking Florida with heavy rain and high winds.
The storm killed at least five people on Monday and is causing flash flooding in historic Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, as well as elsewhere on the Southeast's Atlantic Coast.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson told residents to expect a rough day Tuesday. Debby made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane.
Although Debby was classified as a Category 1, which is based on wind speeds, meteorologists say it's the storm's rainfall capacity that makes it extremely dangerous.
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The center of Tropical Storm Debby is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Savannah, Georgia, and moving east-northeast at near 6 mph (9 kph), the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday in its 11 a.m. advisory.
Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph (65 kph) with higher gusts. Tropical-storm force winds of at least 39 mph (63 kph) extend outward over 200 miles (330 kilometers) from the center.
Debby's center is expected to move off the Georgia coast later Tuesday, then move back inland over South Carolina on Thursday, the center said.
