Hurricane Michael making its way to Southeast as Sumter emergency management monitors storm

Category 4 hurricane approaching Florida Panhandle

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Hurricane Michael is expected to bring fast winds and rains to South Carolina when it makes its expected appearance Thursday, prompting Sumter County Emergency Operations Center to go on standby as it continues to monitor the storm's path.

The office is working with the state Emergency Management Division and local governments to determine a best course of action when the storm reaches this area, said Donna Dew, executive secretary of Sumter County Emergency Management.

The storm became a Category 3 major hurricane Tuesday afternoon and was expected to strengthen more before making landfall, but it is expected to reduce to a tropical storm by the time it reaches South Carolina before sunrise Thursday, according to National Hurricane Center and Dew. Tuesday afternoon forecasts showed it passing almost directly over the Sumter-Columbia area Thursday at 1 p.m. The storm is anticipated to bring winds between 20 and 35 miles per hour and 45-mph gusts, according to the latest update from the EOC by press time Tuesday.

Residents should expect the possibility of trees coming down and power outages, she said, as well as the possibility of tornadoes.

Sumter is also expected to get 2 to 3 inches of rain - nothing substantial, Dew said. People in low-lying areas may see some typical localized flooding, she said, but forecasters do not foresee a significant amount of rain.

She said emergency management will work Sumter School District and local governments regarding closings.

The public should follow broadcasts about Hurricane Michael, Dew said, and to be prepared for what is forecasted.

As of the National Hurricane Center's 4 p.m. Tuesday public advisory, the entire Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina coast was under a tropical storm warning or watch as the storm was heading north at 12 mph. Maximum sustained winds had increased to near 120 mph with higher gusts.

Forty-nine roads and 24 bridges, mostly in the northeastern part of South Carolina, remain closed as of Tuesday because of flooding or damage caused by Hurricane Florence last month.

Homeowners in North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina still have tarps on their roofs or industrial dehumidifiers drying their floors from destruction left by Florence, which moved at a crawling pace and dumped as much as 2 feet of rain in places.

Gov. Henry McMaster estimated Florence's damage would top $1 billion in a letter to the federal government. Earlier this month, the state said about 1,600 homes - and counting - were damaged, including 55 that were destroyed.

While the flooding caused by Florence is not expected with Michael, some areas have not yet even dried out from September's storm - the Waccamaw River remained out of its banks more than three weeks after Florence made landfall - and this storm is forecasted to bring more wind than rain.

"I wouldn't expect massive amounts of flooding. It's moving a lot faster. The rivers will go up briefly, but they shouldn't come near the levels after Florence," said Carl Morgan, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

The Associated Press and The Sumter Item Executive Editor Kayla Robins contributed to this report.