With Tropical Storm Debby unleashing a weeklong deluge along parts of the Eastern Seaboard, I’ve been thinking about an area of the country that isn’t always top of mind when it comes to the most severe effects of climate change.

Sure, the West has droughts and fires. Yes, the Midwest has floods and violent winds. And it’s true, the Northeast is experiencing intensifying humidity and sea level rise.

But the 11 Southeastern states are uniquely susceptible to much of that and more.

This week has laid bare the region’s vulnerability. Debby exploded from a whisper of a tropical disturbance into a soaking, slow-moving hurricane in a matter of days. The result has been neighborhoods underwater in Sarasota, Fla., tornadoes in North Carolina and extensive floods in areas from the Florida Panhandle to central Virginia.

“When you look at, like, the variety of different stressors that climate change brings, the Southeast experiences each and every one of them,” said Jeremy Hoffman, the director of climate justice at Groundwork USA, a nonprofit organization that works to fortify low-income areas. “And most of the time, it’s the most intense version of the expected change.”

The fastest rate of sea level rise in the United States is happening in the Southeast. Norfolk, Va., is experiencing the most rapidly rising seas on the East Coast, a phenomenon that threatens not only the city’s residents and businesses, but also the Navy’s vast operations in the area.

Hoffman called sea level rise a “background stressor” that exacerbated the other damaging effects of climate change. Rising seas make it that much easier for floods to occur, and they contribute to erosion that is threatening some seaside communities. The overpumping of groundwater is making things worse, as land along the East Coast slumps into the ocean.