New hurricane could affect South Carolina

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The National Hurricane Center is warning of a new storm that has the potential of making landfall in South Carolina. The organization announced Sunday that Hurricane Maria, which is currently moving through the Atlantic, is on track to hit the Leeward Islands on Monday night, and could make landfall on many of the tiny Caribbean islands that were destroyed by Hurricane Irma. “It does have the potential to affect us,” National Weather Service Columbia office meteorologist Chris Rohrbach said Sunday to The State newspaper. “Right now, it’s so far out it’s hard to say, but it’s something to keep watching.” Rohrbach said Maria had been elevated from a tropical depression to a tropical storm and now a hurricane in less than 48 hours. He said Maria is intensifying quickly and is expected to be a major hurricane, along the lines of Irma and Harvey. The good news for Midlands residents, at this moment, is that Rohrbach says most current models show Maria following a track that will keep it east of South Carolina, in the Atlantic Ocean. “The models now show the impact is expected to be minimal,” Rohrbach said of Maria’s potential effects, adding heavy rainfall in the Midlands is the likely outcome of the most recent model. He reminded, again, that it’s still too early to make a definitive forecast on Maria’s path, as it pertains to South Carolina. “It all depends on the models and how they evolve,” he said.