ROCKINGHAM — The National Weather Service has issued a slew of warnings along the Florida and Carolinas coasts as Tropical Storm Isaias makes its way north.
Richmond County is currently under a flash flood watch as the storm is expected to drop 2-4 inches of rain as it passes by Monday evening into Tuesday.
The watch is in effect until Tuesday afternoon.
Neighboring Scotland County has been included in a tropical storm watch.
As of 11 a.m., Tropical Storm Isaias was about 560 miles south of Fayetteville, moving north-northwest at 8 mph with 65 mph winds.
Areas of east of U.S. 1 are expected to experience strong winds associated with the storm, according to the NWS.
Wind speeds are forecast to range 20-40 mph along the U.S. 1 corridor, and 40-70 mph from Interstate-95 to the coast.
Forecast models show tropical storm-force winds to sweep across South Carolina between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday, moving into North Carolina later in the night.
Several areas along the coast have already evacuated ahead of the storm and Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency on Friday.
Cooper is expected to make another announcement later Sunday afternoon.
Another tropical disturbance east of the Leeward Islands currently has a 30 percent chance of developing into a named storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Showers and thunderstorms are likely for the rest of the week.