Hurricane Debby, which hit Florida earlier this week and is now moving up the Eastern Seaboard on a collision course with Greensboro and Guilford County, is on the way – and, while it’s not clear how much damage the storm will do in the Triad, Greensboro officials, Duke Energy and area Emergency Services workers are preparing to respond to the storm that’s expected to bring major flooding over the next two days.

Debby hit Florida as a Category 1 storm on Monday, Aug. 5 causing major power outages in Florida and Georgia. The storm was later downgraded to tropical storm status. Despite that, meteorologists were predicting major problems in the Southeastern US due mostly to flooding. Some places in the path of the storm will see 20 inches of rain from Debby according to forecasts.

In an Associated Press report, Jeff Masters, the founder of the Weather Underground service, said that, although Debby was classified as a Category 1 storm, “It really is worthy of a Category 3 or 4 rating, if you want to talk about rainfall impacts.”

“That’s going to cause a lot of damage,” Masters added.

The forecast calls for a great deal of rain for Wednesday, Aug. 7 and Thursday, Aug. 8, which will be accompanied by high winds. Combined, that will no doubt mean power outages for some Guilford County residents.

On Wednesday, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said the city is working with Duke Energy and doing everything it can ahead of time to prepare for the storm in an effort to reduce the potential problems that often occur with weather of this type.

“We’re looking to get a lot of rain,” Vaughan said. “That’s going to mean a lot of trees down.”

The mayor added that the wind and rain together with the trees coming down means that some city and county residents will inevitably lose power.

Vaughan said city workers were already taking flooding prevention measures early this week such as checking for stream impediments.

The mayor added that city officials were also staying in close contact with Duke Energy.

The bad news on Wednesday was that the remnant of Hurricane Debby was picking up strength as it hit landfall for a second time on its way to the Greensboro area.

The good news was that the notoriously slow storm – which has been hanging around and dumping a great deal of water on the areas it passes over – was gaining a little bit of speed.  So, it won’t be lingering over the Triad as long as it did over some areas of Florida just after the storm’s original landfall.

Vaughan said she was pleased that former Guilford County Commissioner Hank Henning was now working for Duke Energy, because, as a former government official, he understands the importance of – and does a good job of – communicating with local governments regarding the potential impact of storms.

Henning said that, just as the area’s local governments were doing what they could to prepare for Debby, Duke Energy was getting ready as well.

“Right now, it’s an all hands on deck situation,” Henning said.

He said some people might not realize it, but Duke Energy has its own meteorological unit that keeps a close watch on the weather so the company can effectively deploy its assets in response to storms such as this one.

Henning said Duke Energy was blessed with being a large company so it has an opportunity to bring in help from other parts of the country when one area is expecting storm damage and power disruptions. He added that, currently, Duke Energy was bringing in help from the Midwest to the Triad in order for the company to respond quickly to power outages.

Henning also said Duke Energy tries to respond in the most effective way possible using smart triage strategies during outages; so, for instance, if there’s one household on one road lacking power, but there’s a group of hundreds in a particular area with the power out, the more populus section of the grid will see a response first.

Henning also said that the preparation for a storm like this isn’t something that just happens right before the bad weather hits.

“We stay prepared year-round and work on ways to improve the grid, such as replacing lines and poles, and installing smart, self-healing technology,” Henning said.

So far, Debby has been largely affecting Florida, the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina as well as parts of North Carolina. The Triad area is one part of North Carolina expected to be most affected by the flooding.

 Some places have seen “catastrophic flooding” as Debby has slowly creeped up the Eastern Seaboard.

Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Skip Alston said that, sometimes, when this type of weather event hits, the county will declare a State of Emergency.  However, Alston added, in this case, so far at least, he hadn’t gotten the word from county staff that that measure would be necessary.

Meanwhile, City of Greensboro staff were doing all they could Wednesday to get ready.

The city’s emergency services workers were preparing for road closures, power outages, flooding and downed trees, while the Greensboro Police Department was getting ready to establish and maintain any needed road closures and detours.

Also, the city’s police officers are preparing to deploy any needed portable traffic control signs, barricades or portable generators.

The city is using social media and the city’s website to update the press as well as area residents of any road and facilities closures.

Greensboro’s Storm Water unit has put together a list of thoroughfares that need to be checked before, during and after any heavy rainfall.

The city’s Water Resources Department and Transportation Departments are also performing flood mitigation activities before the major rainfall arrives.

The city’s transportation service may alter some of its routes due to flooding.

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