The remnants of Debby picked up the pace Friday, moving north and northeast from the Carolinas and still packing a punch with heavy rains, flash flooding and the threat of tornadoes.
The Mid-Atlantic states and parts of New York and New England will see significant rainfall that could cause dangerous flooding into the weekend, such as on parts of Interstate 95 near bigger cities, said Jon Porter, Accuweather’s chief meteorologist. There may be an active stretch of tornadoes Friday from eastern Virginia up to Vermont, he said.
“There will be multiple threats in Debby’s final chapter, and it’s a dangerous one,” he said.
More flooding was expected in North and South Carolina. Up to 6 more inches could fall before Debby clears those states. Parts of Maryland, upstate New York and Vermont could get similar rainfall totals by the end of the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
Overnight Friday, there was “dangerous flash flooding” in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, north of Charleston, according to Jenna-Ley Walls, a spokesperson for the Berkeley County Government. “We have multiple swift water rescue teams responding to flooded areas,” she said, adding that an emergency shelter has been opened at a middle school.
One resident of Bonneau, South Carolina, just north of Moncks Corner, said Debby was far from done with his farm:
Walking through knee deep water on the farm. My building is submerged with nearly knee deep water. Breakers tripped and chest freezers are floating inside. Bonneau, SC. @BILLWALSHTV @MichalHigdon @SCweather_wx @LeeHaywoodWX pic.twitter.com/DQkJwYkCaI
The already drenched parts of northern Vermont that were hit by flash flooding twice last month were bracing for the possibility of more on Friday. Flooding that hit the northeastern part of the state on July 30 knocked out bridges, destroyed and damaged homes and washed away roads in the rural town of Lyndon. It came three weeks after after deadly flooding in the north and center of the state from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl.
Debby was a tropical depression by late Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. It made landfall early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane. Then, Debby made a second landfall early Thursday in South Carolina as a tropical storm.
At least seven people have died related to Debby — four in Florida, including two children, one in Georgia and two in North Carolina.
On Thursday, tornadoes spawned by Debby leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person as the tropical system dropped heavy rain and flooded communities across the Carolinas.
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 but was awakened by an alert on his wife’s phone.
He, his wife and their 20-year-old son huddled in a 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 in North Carolina, and perhaps the most devastating. One person was found dead in a home damaged by the Lucama tornado, Wilson County spokesperson Stephen Mann said.
The superintendent of Wilson County Schools confirmed damage at Springfield Middle School, where sections of the walls and roof were gone or compromised.
Drone footage showed portions of the school’s roof ripped off, exposing rafters and duct work. A section of wall had crumbled onto the soggy green lawn, which was strewn with twisted pieces of metal roof and shredded insulation.
“It literally brought tears to all of our eyes for our community to be hit like this. It affects us all,” Jamie Driver told CBS News’ Patrick Torphy.
Her son goes to the school and her husband, Robbie Driver, responded there as a firefighter with the Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department.
Tornado warnings continued to be issued throughout North Carolina and Virginia into the night Thursday. A tornado watch was in effect for over 17 million people in parts of Washington, D.C., Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia into Friday morning.
Meanwhile, a dam north of Fayetteville, North Carolina, broke Thursday morning as Debby drenched the area. Between 12 and 15 homes were evacuated, but no one was injured and no structures were damaged, Harnett County spokesperson 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 south of Lucama, deputies 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 backed into the downtown overnight.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster warned Thursday that Debby’s effects weren’t completely over because rain falling in North Carolina could swell rivers and cause flooding downstream.
“We’ve passed some dangers, but there’s still plenty,” McMaster said. “So don’t let your guard down yet.”
