Debby will bring heavy rain, flooding and possible tornadoes to the Northeast through the weekend

LUCAMA, N.C. (AP) — The remnants of Debby picked up speed Friday, moving north and northeast from the Carolinas and still bringing heavy rain, flash flooding and the threat of tornadoes.

Mid-Atlantic states and parts of New York and New England will see significant rainfall that could cause dangerous flooding through the weekend, including on parts of Interstate 95 near larger cities, said Jon Porter, Accuweather’s chief meteorologist. From eastern Virginia to Vermont there may be an active tornado swath on Friday, he said.

“There will be multiple threats in Debby’s final chapter, and it’s dangerous,” Porter said.

Already drenched and hit by flash flooding twice last month, northern parts of Vermont were bracing for the possibility of more on Friday. The flooding that hit the northeastern part of the state on July 30 washed out bridges, destroyed and damaged homes and washed out roads in the rural town of Lyndon. It came three weeks after deadly flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. President Joe Biden approved Vermont’s emergency declaration.

In South Carolina, the town of Moncks Corner was hit by flash flooding early Friday, and the National Weather Service said it received reports of up to 3 feet (0.9 meters) of fast-moving water on roads in the community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Charleston.

“We have several swiftwater rescue teams responding to flooded areas,” Berkeley County officials said on social media platform X, and an emergency shelter has been opened in the city, which had been damaged earlier in the week after Debby spawned tornadoes.

Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression late Thursday afternoon and was a post-tropical cyclone by Friday, the National Hurricane Center said. It made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning. Debby then made a second landfall Thursday morning in South Carolina as a tropical storm.

At least eight people have died in connection with Debby. The latest was a 78-year-old woman who died Thursday night when a tree fell on her home in the Browns Summit community northeast of Greensboro, North Carolina, as Debby was passing through the state, said Lt. Kevin Suthard of the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office.

On Thursday alone, tornadoes spawned by Debby leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person, while the tropical system dumped heavy rain and flooded communities in the Carolinas.

It took just 15 seconds for a tornado to level Genesis Cooper’s home in Lucama, North Carolina, a small town about 40 miles east of Raleigh. He nearly fell asleep, if not for an alert on his wife’s phone.

He, his wife and their 20-year-old son were huddled in a bathroom with blankets. They felt vibrations and heard glass breaking before hearing a sudden bang.

“I can’t describe it. It’s like a suction, that’s what I felt,” Cooper said. “Like something was squeezing you, like your ears were popping.”

The tornado was one of at least three that struck 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.

The Wilson County Schools Superintendent confirmed damage at Springfield High School, where sections of walls and ceiling were missing or compromised.

Drone footage showed parts of the school’s roof torn away, leaving beams and ductwork exposed. A section of wall had collapsed onto the sodden green grass, which was covered in twisted pieces of metal roofing and shredded insulation.

Tornado warnings were in effect in North Carolina and Virginia through Thursday evening. A tornado watch was in effect through Friday afternoon for parts of Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Meanwhile, a dam north of Fayetteville, North Carolina, broke Thursday morning as Debby flooded the area. Between 12 and 15 homes were evacuated, but no one was injured and no structures were damaged, Harnett County spokeswoman Desiree Patrick said.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a briefing Thursday that the state had activated more National Guard troops and added additional vehicles that can rescue people in floods.

About 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Lucama, officers in Bladenboro posted photos of a patrol car damaged by a fallen tree, as well as roads that had been washed out.

Townspeople had helped fill sandbags Wednesday before up to 3 feet of floodwaters entered the town center overnight.

Forrest Lennon, the owner of Diamond Dave’s Grill in Bladenboro, was thankful even though five inches of floodwater had seeped into the restaurant. He and his wife have owned the place since September. The previous owner said three feet of water flooded the building during the last two major hurricanes, Matthew and Florence.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Lennon said, adding that they did everything they could to prepare for the storm.

More flooding is expected in North Carolina and South Carolina. Up to 6 inches more rain could fall before Debby passes those states. Parts of Maryland, upstate New York and Vermont could see similar rainfall totals by the end of the weekend, the weather service said.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster warned Thursday that Debby’s effects were not entirely over because rains in North Carolina could swell rivers and cause flooding downstream.

“We’ve been through some dangers, but there are still many more,” McMaster said. “So don’t let your guard down just yet.”

___

Associated Press contributors include Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and freelance photographer Mic Smith in Isle of Palms, South Carolina.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.