Savannah mayor warns of 1-in-1,000 year storm
Mayor Van Johnson is warning residents of Savannah, Georgia, that Tropical Storm Debby may bring an overwhelming amount of rain that the city is not built to handle.
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00:00Joining us now is Mayor Van Johnson of Savannah, Georgia, and thank you for coming on, Mayor.
00:06You have been planning for this for, I'm sure, the past couple of days.
00:11What are you anticipating for your city?
00:13Well, first of all, thank you for checking on us and thank you for the opportunity.
00:19These are the things that I flunked in college about meteorological impacts, and these are
00:23things that smart people talk about as it relates to storms.
00:29We are forecasting a once-in-a-1,000-year storm.
00:34Cities don't even plan for one-in-1,000-year storms.
00:37We're talking about rain going anywhere from 10 inches to 30 inches.
00:43We've experienced heavy rain over the last two weeks, and it's six inches at most.
00:48We can only move about two inches of water an hour, and so this totally overwhelms our
00:54entire system.
00:57Our challenge is that this is a lot of water.
01:00Savannah is low-lying land, and we will literally create islands within islands if this forecasted
01:08rain comes.
01:09Now, you have emergency crews and teams all around.
01:13What have they been doing to prepare?
01:15Well, obviously, Team Savannah has been in Savannah.
01:19We're making sure that storm drains are cleared, making sure conveyances are moved, making
01:25sure that canals are clear as best we can.
01:29Again, this is just the overwhelming amount of water.
01:33We're already under a tornado watch.
01:38We're under a variety of watches already, a tropical storm warning, a storm surge warning,
01:46a flood watch here.
01:48So it's a lot going on here, and our challenge is just making sure that we're able to keep
01:52our citizens safe and also keep our first responders safe in the midst of it.
01:58With regards to your residents and visitors in the area, what do you advise to them during
02:03the course of this storm?
02:04What do you want them to know, and how do you want them to react?
02:08It's here.
02:09Stay in.
02:10Be safe.
02:12You can enjoy Savannah from a window view, and we'll see you on the other side.
02:18All right, Savannah, Georgia Mayor Van Johnson, thank you so much for joining us as we continue
02:23to follow this storm lifting through portions of the Peach State there.