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DETROIT (AP) — Canada’s two largest railroads are starting to shut down their shipping networks as a labor dispute with the Teamsters union threatens to cause lockouts or strikes that would disrupt cross-border trade with the U.S. Both the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Canadian National railroads, which haul millions of tons of freight across the border, have stopped taking certain shipments of hazardous materials and refrigerated products. Both are threatening to lock out Teamsters Canada workers starting Thursday, Aug. 22, if deals are not reached. On Tuesday, Aug. 20, CPKC will stop all shipments that start in Canada and all shipments originating in the U.S. that are headed for Canada, the railroad said Saturday. The Canadian Press reported that on Aug. 16, Canadian National barred container imports from U.S. partner railroads. Jeff Windau, industrials analyst for Edward Jones & Co., said his firm expects work stoppages to last only a few days, but if they go longer, there could be significant supply chain disruptions. “If something would carry on more of a longer term in nature, then I think there are some significant potential issues just given the amount of goods that are handled each day,” Windau said. “By and large the rails touch pretty much all of the economy.” The two railroads handle about 40,000 carloads of freight each day, worth about $1 billion, Windau said. Shipments of fully built automobiles and auto parts, chemicals, forestry products and agricultural goods would be hit hard, he said, especially with harvest season looming. Both railroads have extensive networks in the U.S., and CPKC also serves Mexico. Those operations will keep running even if there is a work stoppage. CPKC said it remains committed to avoiding a work stoppage that would damage Canada’s economy and international reputation. “However we must take responsible and prudent steps to prepare for a potential rail service interruption next week,” spokesman Patrick Waldron said in a statement. Shutting down the network will allow the railroad to get dangerous goods off of its network before any stoppage, CPKC said. Union spokesman Christopher Monette said in an email Saturday that negotiations continue, but the situation has shifted from a possible strike to “near certain lockout” by the railroads. CPKC said bargaining is scheduled to continue on Sunday with the union, which represents nearly 10,000 workers at both railroads. The company said it continues to bargain in good faith. Canadian National said in a statement Friday that there had been no meaningful progress in negotiations and it hoped the union “will engage meaningfully” during a meeting scheduled for Saturday. “CN wants a resolution that allows the company to get back to what it does best as a team, moving customers’ goods and the economy,” the railroad said. Negotiations have been going on since last November, and contracts expired at the end of 2023. They were extended as talks continued. The union said company demands on crew scheduling, rail safety and worker fatigue are the main sticking points. Concerns about the quality of life for rail workers dealing with demanding schedules and no paid sick time nearly led to a U.S. rail strike two years ago before Congress intervened and blocked a walkout. The major U.S. railroads have made progress since then in offering paid sick time to most rail workers and trying to improve schedules. Windau said the trucking industry currently has a lot of excess capacity and might be able to make up some of the railroads’ shipping volumes, but, “You’re not going to be able to replace all of that with trucking.”

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — One person has died as a result of vehicle crash on I-20 in west Georgia on Friday, Aug. 16. According to the Georgia State Police, at 11:38 a.m., GSP responded to three-vehicle crash near mile marker 19 in Carroll County. GSP states that a KIA and a tractor-trailer were both stopped on interstate going in the westbound direction. Both were in the left lane when a Lincoln Navigator, also traveling westbound in the left lane struck the rear of the Kia. GSP says the impact caused both the KIA and Navigator to strike the rear of the tractor-trailer.  The driver of the Kia was pronounced deceased at Tanner-Villa Rica hospital. The driver of the Navigator was also transported to Tanner-Villa Rica with non-life-threatening injuries.  The passenger of the KIA was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta with non-life-threatening injuries. The Georgia State Patrol Troop D Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating the crash.”

OTAY MESA, Calif. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility discovered 361 pounds of fentanyl and cocaine hidden within a flatbed trailer. On the morning of August 9, CBP officers encountered a 44-year-old man driving a commercial tractor-trailer with an empty flatbed trailer who was applying for entry from Mexico into the United States at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility. The driver, a valid border crossing card holder, was referred for further examination by CBP officers along with the tractor-trailer. In the secondary inspection area, CBP officers utilized non-intrusive inspection technology to screen the tractor-trailer, revealing anomalies. A CBP K-9 team responded and screened the flatbed trailer alerting officers to the presence of narcotics. After an intensive examination, CBP officers discovered packages hidden in a non-factory compartment within the frame of the flatbed trailer.  A total of 77 packages of cocaine weighing 227.96 pounds and 50 packages of fentanyl powder weighing 133.60 pounds were extracted by CBP officers. “This record-setting seizure is a stark reminder of the ongoing battle against drug trafficking.” stated Rosa Hernandez CBP Port Director for the Area Ports of Otay Mesa. “Concealing such a staggering quantity of fentanyl and cocaine within a flatbed trailer shows the lengths traffickers will go and further showcases the exceptional vigilance and hard work our officers perform on a daily basis.” The subject was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation. The narcotics, semi-truck, and trailer were seized by CBP officers. CBP officers found 361 pounds of fentanyl and cocaine hidden within a flatbed trailer. This seizure is the result of Operation Apollo, a holistic counter-fentanyl effort that began on October 26, 2023, in southern California, and expanded to Arizona on April 10, 2024. Operation Apollo focuses on intelligence collection and partnerships, and utilizes local CBP field assets augmented by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to boost resources, increase collaboration, and target the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States. The CDC states that more than 150 people die every day from drug overdoses related to synthetic opioids derived from fentanyl.

BOSTON — An owner of a now defunct trucking company agreed to plead guilty Tuesday, Aug. 14, to federal charges related to a deadly crash in New Hampshire that killed seven motorcyclists. Dunyadar Gasanov, 39, pled guilty in Springfield, Massachusetts to three counts of making false statements to federal investigators. The car transport company he owned, Westfield Transport Inc., employed Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, a commercial trucker driver who was involved in 2019 crash that left seven motorcyclists dead in northern New Hampshire. Gasanov was accused of falsifying driver logs to avoid federal road safety regulations including exceeding limits on the hours a driver can operate. He also instructed at least one employee to falsify records by deactivating logging devices in order to exceed the allowable driving hours and lied about it to federal investigators. He also claimed to federal investigators that he had met Zhukovskyy the day he was hired when, in fact, he had known him for years and was aware that Zhukovskyy had been charged with drunken driving. “Keeping communities safe takes all forms. In this case, it is about making sure that operators of commercial vehicles adhere to all required safety procedures and regulations,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “We will not forget the lives in June 2019 that relate to this conviction. This defendant flouted those laws that are critical to public safety, and he jeopardized everyone on the road, with tragic consequences here.” A lawyer for Gasanov, Peter Slepchuk, had no comment when reached about the plea agreement. Gasanov, who is set to be sentenced Nov. 21, faces five years imprisonment, one year of supervised release and a $10,000 fine on each count. His co-defendant, Dartanayan Gasanov, pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. Both were indicted in 2021. A jury in 2022 found Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not guilty of multiple manslaughter and negligent homicide counts stemming from the June 21, 2019, collision in Randolph that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, an organization of Marine Corps veterans and their spouses in New England. Zhukovskyy’s Massachusetts license was automatically suspended in New Hampshire after his arrest following the crash, but he sought to reinstate it earlier this year. An administrative law judge for the Department of Safety upheld the suspension in May, and after a hearing last month, issued an order Wednesday extending it until June 2026, seven years after the crash. Seven years is the maximum allowed under the law. The state had argued the clock should start this year, meaning the license would remain suspended until 2031. During the June hearing, family and friends of those who died and survivors of the crash implored the judge to impose the maximum suspension. “Someone that caused such incredible, horrible pain to so many people has the audacity to say ‘I want my privilege back,’” David Bark, a member of the Jarheads, said at the hearing. “It’s not a constitutional right to drive a car, to operate a motor vehicle on a public access highway. This is a privilege.”

FOREST PARK, Ga. — Celery was used to conceal more than 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms) of methamphetamines that federal agents discovered in a truck at a farmers market outside Atlanta, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said. In what the DEA called one of the largest seizures of its kind, agents confiscated the drugs being delivered to the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park, authorities said at a Monday news conference, WAGA-TV reported. The agency had learned about a semitrailer coming across the Mexican border and agents tracked the drugs to the farmers market, said DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy. The drugs were found inside the truck, he said. “This was contained in a cover load of celery,” Murphy said. “It was hiding in the celery. Obviously, we threw away the celery. That didn’t make it to the store.” A Mexican citizen was arrested, the Atlanta TV station reported. Details about the suspect and charges were not immediately available Tuesday. Using produce to conceal drugs has become a frequent tactic of smugglers, authorities said.

CHICO, Calif. — California’s largest wildfire so far this year was 40% contained Wednesday after scorching more than 670 square miles (1,735 square kilometers). The massive Park Fire was allegedly started by arson on July 24 in a wilderness park outside the Central Valley city of Chico and spread northward with astonishing speed in hot and dry conditions, becoming California’s fourth-largest wildfire on record. “There was minimal fire activity through the night,” Cal Fire said in its morning summary. “Firefighters are currently working on mop-up and tactical patrol operations to work towards containment and to prepare communities to be safe for repopulations.” A large portion of the fire is within Lassen National Forest, where officials said it was remaining inside its existing perimeter. Weather has been more favorable recently, with increases in relative humidity, the moisture that can help suppress fire. More than 5,400 firefighters remained assigned to the blaze. The fire primarily impacted two counties, Butte and Tehama, destroying 641 structures and damaging 52, according to Cal Fire. An arson case is pending against a Chico man who was arrested after a burning car was seen being pushed into a gully, according to the Butte County district attorney’s office. Other large fires currently burning in California have significant levels of containment, except for a blaze that erupted Aug. 9 in Six Rivers National Forest in the state’s northwest corner. The Boise Fire, named for a local creek, covered more than 11 square miles (28 square kilometers) Wednesday with zero containment.

The sun came out but the power stayed off in more than 100,000 homes and businesses across four states Saturday as Debby finally moved out of the U.S. After first arriving in Florida as a hurricane, the storm spent the better part of a week unleashing tornadoes and flooding, damaging homes and taking lives as it moved up the East Coast. Though the skies had cleared, a flood warning remained in effect until Saturday night in a small part of northern New York where up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain had fallen. The National Weather Service said water there was receding slowly, and many roads remained flooded. Nearly 170,000 customers in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont had no electricity Saturday afternoon according to PowerOutage.us, and some utilities said restoration could take days. More than half the outages were in Ohio, where Debby-related storms including tornadoes blew through the northeastern part of the state on Wednesday. Debby’s last day over the U.S. before blowing into Canada inundated south-central New York and north-central Pennsylvania with rain Friday, prompting evacuations and rescues by helicopter. The post-tropical cyclone continued dropping rain on New England and southern Quebec, Canada, on Friday night though conditions improved Saturday morning as the system continued moving northeast. Some of the worst flash flooding in New York on Friday happened in villages and hamlets in a largely rural area south of the Finger Lakes. In Steuben County, which borders Pennsylvania, officials ordered the evacuation of the towns of Jasper, Woodhull and part of Addison, and said people were trapped as floodwaters made multiple roads impassable. The recovery effort was underway Saturday morning, as emergency workers cleared debris and helped residents pump flood water from their basements. Officials in Tioga County in north-central Pennsylvania said Saturday that a search and rescue operation was going on for one person unaccounted for in the Knoxville area after flooding that prompted dozens of rescues. Fire Chief William Goltz of Crary Hose Co. in Westfield said 30 to 50 water rescues were conducted using rescue boats aided by two helicopters, and those rescued included some firefighters who became trapped while trying to rescue others. Officials said about 100 people were displaced and several shelters opened, but by midday Saturday only 14 remained in one shelter. They urged people to document damage before beginning cleanup efforts and to send them any images of the flooding. The weather service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in Pennsylvania’s capital city early Friday. Forecasters said the tornado packing peak winds estimated at 105 mph touched down just after 4:30 a.m. in Harrisburg and traveled north for almost 3 ½ miles (5.63 km), blowing off a set of overhead doors at a warehouse and causing roof damage to a church and roof and structural damage to several homes as well as uprooting dozens of trees. Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression late Thursday afternoon and was a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said. It made landfall early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane, emerged over the Atlantic Ocean and hit land a second time early Thursday in South Carolina as a tropical storm. There have been at least nine deaths related to Debby, most in vehicle accidents or from fallen trees. In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott had warned that Debby’s remnants could cause serious damage, including in already drenched places that were hit by flash flooding twice last month, but a flood watch was called off by mid-evening. About 19,000 Vermont homes and businesses remained without power Saturday afternoon, down from more than 44,000 the previous day. Officials said wind gusts of more than 60 mph in some areas tore down massive trees in places where the ground remained saturated from previous storms. “There is widespread, extensive damage in many locations,” said Mike Burke, vice president of operations at Green Mountain Power. “The repeated storms we are experiencing in Vermont are not just heartbreaking, they are happening more frequently and they doing more damage like this.”

NORTH HAVEN, Conn.— An Amtrak train carrying nearly 100 passengers crashed into the rear section of a tractor trailer in Connecticut on Friday morning, causing minor injuries to a train engineer and damaging warning equipment at the crossing, authorities said.  TV news video of the scene in North Haven showed heavy damage to the rear of the truck’s trailer and an equipment pole with warning lights and a crossing arm. Markings on the truck trailer showed the name of a Canadian company, Musket Transport. An employee in the company’s safety department said he was aware of the crash but declined further comment.  According to the report, the accident happened shortly before 6 a.m. as train 471 was heading south to Norfolk, Virginia, from Springfield, Massachusetts, Amtrak officials said. The train with 97 passengers hit the truck at a crossing in an industrial area about 6 miles (10 kilometers) north of New Haven.  A train engineer was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, and none of the passengers were hurt, Amtrak officials said. The truck driver also was not injured.  The cause of the accident is under investigation.  Amtrak and local train service was suspended temporarily because of the crash. Amtrak said it was busing passengers on the train to another station.   

LUCAMA, N.C. — Tornadoes spawned by Tropical Storm Debby leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person early Thursday as the system dropped heavy rain and flooded communities across North and South Carolina. It only took 15 seconds for a tornado to devastate Genesis Cooper’s home in Lucama, North Carolina, a small town about 40 miles east of Raleigh. He almost slept through it — if not for an alert on his wife’s phone. The 51-year-old, his wife and their 20-year-old son huddled in the home’s middle bathroom with blankets. They felt vibrations and heard glass shattering before hearing a sudden boom. “I can’t even describe it. It’s like, suction, that’s what it felt like,” Cooper said. “Like something is squeezing, like your ears are popping.” The tornado was one of at least three reported overnight in North Carolina and perhaps the most devastating. One person was found dead in a home damaged by the Lucama tornado, Wilson County spokesman Stephen Mann said in an email. No further details on the person were immediately provided. Cooper said the tornado was so intense that the wind gusts dragged a large punching bag out of his son’s bedroom and flung it into the living room, knocking his son’s door off the hinges. Parts of their home’s roof and walls were torn off, causing water to leak inside. The side windows were busted out, and the pool deck in the back was in shambles. Despite it all, Cooper seemed to be calm, saying that he knew they were in God’s hands. “This is just stuff. It can be replaced,” Cooper said. Theresa Richardson hunkered down with her husband and granddaughter in the closet of their Lucama home as the tornado tore through about a mile away. Debris struck the house. And they could hear the roof of nearby Springfield Middle School being ripped off. Richardson said this wasn’t the first time the area was struck by a tornado: her neighbors call the road they live on “Tornado Alley.” The superintendent of Wilson County Schools confirmed damage at Springfield Middle School, where sections of the walls and roof of the 6th and 7th grade halls are gone or compromised. “It was heartbreaking to see the school right after the event,” Superintendent Lane Mills said in a statement. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a briefing Thursday that the state has activated more National Guard troops and added additional vehicles that can rescue people in floods as rains from Debby keep drenching the state. Cooper said his thoughts were with the man killed by the tornado and his family. The governor spoke at a National Guard armory, where weather alarms could be heard going off behind him. Meanwhile, about 100 miles south of Lucama, deputies in Bladenboro posted photos of a patrol car damaged by a tree and washed-out roads. Standing water a few feet deep covered parts of the tiny North Carolina town. Many townspeople helped fill sandbags on Wednesday before up to 3 feet of floodwaters backed into the downtown overnight. When the sun came up, water could still be seen bubbling out of manhole covers. Emily Dowless, who co-owns furniture store Market on Main, said 20 neighbors and friends helped move items from the store into trailers and up off the floor in anticipation of flooding. She said about 3 inches of water made it inside the business. “If the worst is over, that’s great,” she said. “But again, we are expecting more rain, so we’re just going to kind of play it ear. Make sure we’re taking care of all of our neighbors and that all is well.” The National Hurricane Center said Debby made a second landfall early Thursday near Bulls Bay, South Carolina — about 30 miles northeast of Charleston. Debby first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida. More flooding was expected in parts of eastern South Carolina and southeast North Carolina, where an additional 3 to 9 inches of rain is possible as the storm moves north. That raised concerns that flash floods could strike mountainous areas of Virginia and West Virginia. Debby also could bring more tornadoes Thursday in parts of North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said. The storm was expected to churn up the East Coast, where residents as far north as Vermont could get several inches of flooding rain this weekend. Meanwhile, floodwaters haven’t even fully drained out of some homes in South Carolina. Robert Chesnut stood in nearly a foot of water inside his Isle of Palms home Thursday morning with a rented industrial pump that looked like a fire hose. After more than three hours, only about an inch of water had been pulled out of his house on the barrier island near Charleston. And once the water is gone, there is still a lot of work to do. “This is contaminated water,” Chesnut said. “These houses are on septic tanks. I hate to say it, but that’s fecal matter. You have to disinfect everything.” A state of emergency was in effect for both North Carolina and Virginia. Maryland issued a state of preparedness declaration that coordinates preparations without declaring an emergency. At least seven people have died due to the storm, including a truck driver who drowned near Tampa, Florida.

As the remnants of Debby continue to creep along a watery path of destruction, road closures, flooding, downed trees and power lines and other emergencies plague both residents of the impacted areas and the trucking companies working to provide relief. To help members of the trucking industry better navigate the maze of emergency declarations, waivers, community and industry needs, and ways to provide assistance, the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is providing regular situational reports with the latest information. In the first of these reports, issued Tuesday, Aug. 6, ALAN provided information about and links to various declarations and waivers currently in effect. For a full situational report, click here. EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS President Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida on Aug. 3 in preparation for impacts from Tropical Storm Debby that began Aug. 1 and are expected to continue. STATE DECLARATIONS South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Aug. 4 declared a state of emergency in preparation for impacts from Tropical Storm Debby through Executive Order 2024-16. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Aug. 3 issued an Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency for Tropical Depression 4 (now Tropical Storm Debby). On Aug. 1, the day Debby made landfall in the state’s Big Bend region, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 24-156 declaring a state of emergency. Executive Order 24-157, issued Aug. 2, amends Executive Order 24-156, extending the state of emergency to 54 counties. ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION WAIVERS Title: Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued Emergency Order 24-03 Effective: 08/0/24| Expires on: 08/09/24 Description: Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Director Kerner issued Emergency Order 24-03 on Aug. 2, pursuant to Executive Order 24-156, suspending enforcement of sections 316.545(4) and 320.0715, Florida Statutes, and pursuant to 49 CFR 390.23, provides exemptions from 49 part 395.3 and 395.5 until August 15, 2024. Title: Florida Department of Transportation issued Emergency Order 24-04 Effective: 08/02/24 | Expires on: 08/09/24 Description: Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue issuedFDOT Emergency Order 24-04 on Aug. 2, suspending requirements related to the size and weight restrictions for commercial vehicles transporting emergency equipment, services, supplies, or personnel to support Tropical Storm Debby. Title: South Carolina Governor issued Executive Order 2024-016 Effective: 08/04/24| Expires on: 08/19/24 Description: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued Executive Order 2024-016 on Aug. 4, declaring a State of Emergency and suspending enforcement of regulations 49 CFR 390.23 and section 56-5-70 of the South Carolina Code of Laws related to the limit the hours of operators of commercial motor vehicles may drive and provides exemptions for size and weight restrictions for vehicles traveling for the purpose of providing relief related to the State of Emergency. Title: Georgia Governor issued Executive Order Effective: 08/03/24| Expires on: 08/08/24 Description: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order on August 3, 2024, declaring a State of Emergency that suspends enforcement of regulations 49 CFR 390, et seq., limit the hours of operators of commercial motor vehicles may drive and provides exemptions for size and weight restrictions for vehicles traveling for the purpose of providing relief related to the State of Emergency.

Tropical Storm Debby slammed Florida on Monday, Aug. 5, with torrential rain and high winds, contributing to at least four deaths in the state and the rescue of hundreds from flooded homes before turning menacingly toward the Eastern Seaboard’s low-lying regions and threatening to flood some of America’s most historic Southern cities. A truck driver died on Interstate 75 in the Tampa area after he lost control of his tractor trailer, which flipped over a concrete wall and dangled over the edge before the cab dropped into the water below. Sheriff’s office divers located the driver, a 64-year-old man from Mississippi, in the cab 40 feet below the surface, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. A 13-year-old boy died Monday morning after a tree fell on a mobile home southwest of Gainesville, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office. And in Dixie County, just east of where the storm made landfall, a 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy died in a car crash on wet roads Sunday night. The Florida Highway Patrol said a 14-year-old boy who was a passenger was hospitalized with serious injuries. In southern Georgia, a 19-year-old man died Monday afternoon when a large tree fell onto a porch at a home in Moultrie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Record-setting rain was causing flash flooding, with up to 30 inches possible in some areas, the National Hurricane Center said. About 500 people were rescued from flooded homes in Sarasota, Florida, a beach city popular with tourists, the Sarasota Police Department said in a social media post. It was one of the cities hardest hit by flooding on Monday. “Essentially we’ve had twice the amount of the rain that was predicted for us to have,” Sarasota County Fire Chief David Rathbun said in a social media update. Just north of Sarasota, officials in Manatee County said in a news release that 186 people were rescued from flood waters. “We are facing an unprecedented weather event with Hurricane Debby,” said Jodie Fiske, public safety director for Manatee County public. “The safety of our residents is our top priority, and we are doing everything in our power to respond effectively to this crisis.” A flash flood emergency was issued into Monday evening for the Lake City area in the north central part of the state, where up to a foot of rain had fallen and more was expected. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that the state could continue to see threats as waterways north of the border fill up and flow south. “It is a very saturating, wet storm,” he said during an afternoon briefing at the state’s emergency operations center. “When they crest and the water that’s going to come down from Georgia, it’s just something that we’re going to be on alert for not just throughout today, but for the next week.” Debby made landfall along the Gulf Coast of Florida early Monday as a Category 1 hurricane. It since has weakened to a tropical storm and is moving slowly, covering roads with water and contributing to at least five deaths. Nearly 200,000 customers remained without power in Florida and Georgia on Monday afternoon, down from a peak of more than 350,000, according to PowerOutage.us and Georgia Electric Membership Corp. Airports were also affected. More than 1,600 flights had been canceled nationwide, many of them to and from Florida airports, according to FlightAware.com. The potential for high water also threatened Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Local leaders in Savannah said flooding could happen in areas that don’t usually get high water if Debby stalls out over the city. With winds and rainfall expected to worsen overnight, authorities issued a curfew from 10 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday. “This type of rain hovering over us, coming with the intensity that they tell us it is coming, it’s going to catch a whole lot of people by surprise,” said Chatham County Chairman Chester Ellis. In South Carolina, Charleston County Interim Emergency Director Ben Webster called Debby a “historic and potentially unprecedented event” three times in a 90-second briefing Monday morning. The city of Charleston has an emergency plan in place that includes sandbags for residents, opening parking garages so residents can park their cars above floodwaters and an online mapping system that shows which roads are closed due to flooding. Officials announced a curfew for the city starting at 11 p.m. as some of the heaviest rain is expected to fall overnight. North Carolina is also under a state of emergency after Gov. Roy Cooper declared it in an executive order signed Monday. Several areas along the state’s coastline are prone to flooding, such as Wilmington and the Outer Banks, according to the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program. North Carolina and South Carolina have dealt with three catastrophic floods from tropical systems in the past nine years, all causing more than $1 billion in damage. In 2015, rainfall fed by moisture as Hurricane Joaquin passed well offshore caused massive flooding. In 2016, flooding from Hurricane Matthew caused 24 deaths in the two states and rivers set record crests. Those records were broken in 2018 with Hurricane Florence, which set rainfall records in both Carolinas, flooded many of the same places and was responsible for 42 deaths in North Carolina and nine in South Carolina. President Joe Biden was briefed on Debby’s progress while at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said. Biden approved a request from South Carolina’s governor for an emergency declaration, following his earlier approval of a similar request from Florida. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he has asked Biden to issue a preemptive federal emergency declaration to speed the flow of federal aid to the state.