Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Live from NPR News, South Carolina,

Edalia is expected to make its presence felt tonight as a tropical storm and the timing

does not look good for people who live along the coast. South Carolina Public Radio's

Victoria Hanson has more.

In downtown Charleston, streets flood on sunny days. The harbors predicted to reach more

than eight and a half feet just before nine tonight. That's more than a foot above flood

stage. Now, Edalia threatens to bring a storm surge of three to five feet, several inches

of rain and wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour. Governor Henry McMaster says the storm's

arrival time couldn't be worse.

This wind and rain is coming right at high tide. It looks like along the coast.

The governor has declared a state of emergency and shelters have been opened in Charleston

as well as other coastal communities. People across the state are being urged to stay

home. For NPR News, I'm Victoria Hanson in Charleston.

Meanwhile, Edalia knocked down power lines and flooded low-lying areas in Florida after

coming ashore early this morning as a strong hurricane. At last, check some 450,000 people

in Florida and Georgia without electricity. So being damaged in Taylor County, Florida,

Governor Ron D. Santis says cleanup will take time.

I think as you see behind me, there's a lot of debris, a lot of trees knocked down. You

see an eruption of power lines and trees going over power lines. So there's going to be

a lot that's going to be required to be able to clean this up and to get everything back

up and running again.

President Biden has promised any aid states need to deal with the damage left behind.

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