St. Petersburg Florida June 24th
Debby Reminding Many of 1994's Tropical Storm Alberto
Felicia N. Combs
Story Created:
Jun 26, 2012 at 5:38 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jun 27, 2012 at 9:14 AM EDT
Nearly 18 years ago, tropical rainfall brought massive flooding to middle Georgia.
For some Tropical Storm Debby is showing some similarities to 1994's Tropical Storm Alberto as it churns up rough weather and heavy rainfall in Florida and south Georgia.
Generally the first week of July is for preparing Independence Day celebrations, however in 1994 central Georgians were preparing in a different way.
After growing in the Gulf of Mexico and making landfall in Destin, Florida on July 3rd Tropical Storm Alberto continued tracking north. By July 5th the storm had weakened to a tropical depression and stalled over central Georgia.
Despite its weakened state the torrential downpours caused some of the worst flooding in Georgia's history with the Ocmulgee River cresting here in Macon at a record high 35.4 feet.
And once the flooding cleared middle Georgia residents were still left without a clean water supply for weeks.
Currently most of the models are in good agreement sending Tropical Storm Debby east across the Florida Peninsula over the next couple days.
So it looks like for us here in central Georgia we got lucky and missed a repeat of 1994's Alberto.
South Georgia and Florida however have already seen their share of tropical weather. Debby has spawned at least 20 tornadoes across Florida and drenching downpours are causing widespread flooding.
And while middle Georgia could use the rain the double digit rainfall totals that have fallen on Florida and Southeast Georgia would be more a of problem than a blessing.
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