RALEIGH, NC — Tropical Storm Colin formed along the South Carolina coast on Saturday, bringing the threat of rain and high winds for a day or two over the holiday weekend before improving for July 4th celebrations on Monday.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of the possibility of localized flash flooding along the Carolina coast through Sunday morning. Saturday night at 11:00 PM EDT, the center of the storm was about 15 miles north of Wilmington, North Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. It was moving northeast at 7 mph.
The storm is expected to weaken further and dissipate completely by Sunday evening or Monday morning.
“Colin will continue to produce locally heavy rainfall across parts of coastal South and North Carolina through Sunday morning,” the center said. Isolated amounts can reach up to 4 inches (10 centimeters).
Some Fourth of July festivities planned for Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina, were canceled after significant water pooled on the field at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park and more rain was expected.
“This rainfall may result in localized areas of flash flooding,” the center said.
Separately, the center of Tropical Storm Bonnie rolled into the Pacific Ocean on Saturday after a rapid march across Central America, where it caused flooding, uprooted trees and forced thousands of people to evacuate in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. There were no immediate reports of deaths.
By Saturday night, Bonnie was centered about 130 miles (205 kilometers) west-southwest of Managua, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 km/h). It was moving west at 16 mph.
It is one of the rare storms that cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean without losing tropical storm strength, thus retaining its name. Forecasters said Bonnie was likely to become a hurricane this week off Mexico’s southern coast, but was unlikely to make direct landfall.
Many Nicaraguans still remember Hurricane Joan, a powerful 1988 storm that wreaked havoc on the coast and caused almost 150 deaths in the country.
“We’re waiting for the storm to hit, hoping it doesn’t destroy our region,” Bluefields resident Ricardo Gomez, who was 8 when Joan hit, said before Bonnie’s arrival.
The area was also hit by two powerful hurricanes, Eta and Iota, in quick succession in 2020, causing an estimated $700 million worth of damage.
Officials in Costa Rica expressed concern that the storm would trigger landslides and flooding in an area already saturated with days of rain. The government said that seven shelters in the north of the country have already accommodated nearly 700 people displaced by floods.
Copyright © 2022 ABC11-WTVD-TV/DT. All rights reserved – The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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