Tropical storm warning is issued for parts of the Carolinas

MIAMI -- A tropical storm warning has been issued for a stretch of the Southeast seacoast amid the threat of heavy rain and coastal flooding from bad weather off the Carolinas, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.

Forecasters at the Miami-based center said the disturbance has emerged off the coast and that a tropical storm warning was issued from Edisto Beach, South Carolina, up to Ocrakoke Inlet near the southernmost extreme of North Carolina's Outer Banks.

An advisory at 5 p.m. EDT Sunday said the area of bad weather was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. It has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and is moving to the northwest toward the coast at 7 mph (11 kph).

Forecasters said the storm raises the risk of urban and flash flooding and minor river flooding in the next few days, along with high surf around the Southeast.