From hundreds of miles away, Hurricane Rafael has brought a deluge of rain to the Hilton Head Island area and across the Southeast. The cyclone plowed through Cuba as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night before spilling westbound into the Gulf of Mexico and weakening slightly.
Beaufort and Jasper counties were placed under a hazardous weather outlook around noon Thursday, and inland Jasper County was under a flood watch until 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service’s Charleston office . “A period of persistent and heavy rainfall” Thursday afternoon could bring localized flooding to the two counties and portions of Georgia, meteorologists said.
Some inland areas of Georgia and South Carolina, including Jasper County, received eight to 10 inches of rain overnight, according to an NWS briefing at 11 a.m. Thursday. Beaufort County and its southern neighbors were expected to see an additional 1.5-2.5 inches Thursday and possible “dense fog” Thursday night into early Friday.