More than 25 million Americans under threat as dangerous flash flooding targets Carolina coast

The FOX Forecast Center continues to monitor a slow-moving, deep moisture surge coming from Tropical Storm Bertha, which will only worsen flood impacts as rain hits the Southeast and Carolinas.

The main threat will be flooding, as a cold front is expected to stall across the Tennessee Valley, and into the Carolinas. 

Warm, tropical moisture moving northward from the remnants of Tropical Storm Bertha will pool along the front and fuel widespread showers and thunderstorms. The repeated rounds of heavy rain across the region is welcomed in some areas that have already experienced extreme and exceptional drought.

The persistent drought conditions will increase the flood threat, as dry soil will not absorb water efficiently.

There is currently a Level 3 out of 4 flash flood risk through Friday, stretching from Wilmington, North Carolina through Charleston, South Carolina. A widespread Level 2 risk stretches from the Outer Banks, along the entire South Carolina Coast and west towards Atlanta.

A Level 2 risk exists on Saturday along the North Carolina Coast through Charleston.

“That could bring some improvement to inland areas while keeping the flood threat active from the Outer Banks south through coastal South Carolina,” according to the FOX Forecast Center said.

Locations such as Wilmington, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, could see rain totals of 3 to 5 inches through the weekend.