Hurricane Rafael brings heavy rain, flood risk to Hilton Head area. When will it stop?
From hundreds of miles away, Hurricane Rafael has brought a deluge of rain to the Hilton Head Island area and across the Southeast. The cyclone plowed through Cuba as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night before spilling westbound into the Gulf of Mexico and weakening slightly.
Beaufort and Jasper counties were placed under a hazardous weather outlook around noon Thursday, and inland Jasper County was under a flood watch until 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service's Charleston office . "A period of persistent and heavy rainfall" Thursday afternoon could bring localized flooding to the two counties and portions of Georgia, meteorologists said.
Some inland areas of Georgia and South Carolina, including Jasper County, received eight to 10 inches of rain overnight, according to an NWS briefing at 11 a.m. Thursday. Beaufort County and its southern neighbors were expected to see an additional 1.5-2.5 inches Thursday and possible "dense fog" Thursday night into early Friday.
Jasper County officials said the overnight rainfall resulted in " unsafe roads in parts of the county " and warned residents to not drive through water-covered routes. Conditions could also bring washouts to certain roadways , according to a Thursday morning alert.
Police and fire personnel from Beaufort and Jasper counties said they were not aware of any road closures as of 1 p.m. Thursday. Stephen Combs, a spokesperson for the Bluffton Township Fire District, said Thursday afternoon crews had responded to a handful of non-serious collisions caused by hydroplaning vehicles.
Chance of rain in the Beaufort area will drop below 20% beginning 11 p.m. Thursday and below 10% Friday afternoon, forecasts say. A cold front is expected to move into the Southeast on Friday, bringing isolated showers.
As of 10 a.m. Thursday, Rafael remained a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center . Initial projections saw the storm heading towards Louisiana and the U.S. Gulf Coast, but beginning midweek the cyclone shifted to its current westward path over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the 2024 hurricane season, which concludes at the end of November.
