A downgraded Tropical Storm Debby, now a tropical depression, made its way to the US north-east on Friday after leaving at least eight people dead in the south earlier this week.
Debby is currently spiraling northward toward Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, where it is forecast to spawn tornadoes and threaten more flash flooding on some already soaked patches of the US, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service said in a bulletin that while Debby would continue to weaken through Sunday, “heavy rain, flash and river flooding effects will continue over the next two days as the storm begins its northeastward acceleration”
Debby’s death toll rose to eight on Friday morning after a 78-year-old woman was found dead Thursday night when a tree fell on her home in Rockingham, North Carolina.
Earlier in the week, a 13-year-old boy was killed in Florida after a tree fell on his home. A 38-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy were also killed on Monday in a car crash during the tropical storm in Florida.
Multiple airports were under ground stops on Friday morning, with most flights halted, including at New York’s LaGuardia airport and Washington DC’s Reagan Airport. Other airports were experiencing departure delays.
Debby made landfall on Thursday for a second time this week, arriving on shore again near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, three days after slamming into Florida’s Gulf coast as a category 1 hurricane, then traveling across northern Florida and Georgia to the Atlantic coast.
Debby unleashed tornadoes in the Carolinas, with a man killed in North Carolina after one tore through his home. The tornado damaged at least 10 houses, a church and a school in Wilson county, North Carolina, early on Thursday, county officials reported on social media.
Debby could spawn more tornadoes in North Carolina and Virginia later on Thursday and early Friday, including in the vicinity of Washington DC, the NWS said. Around 8.20am ET, US Capitol police briefly ordered a shelter in place after it issued a tornado warning for the Capitol complex. The warning was cleared 30 minutes later.
Debby unleashed flash floods in South Carolina overnight, with some areas seeing as much as 17 inches of rainfall.
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
— Derek Baker (@RobotSynergy) August 9, 2024
A lot of Berkeley County is under water right now due to dangerous flash flooding from Tropical Storm Debby. Numerous roads are closed, even parts of I-26. Don't drive through floodwaters. Stay off the roads if you can. Be safe, check on your loved ones.https://t.co/ebLR5lC9qO pic.twitter.com/kTS5aYzEpA
— ABC News 4 (@ABCNews4) August 9, 2024
On Friday morning, 88,000 customers were without power in the Carolinas, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, according to Poweroutage.us.
In Bulloch county, Georgia, about 50 miles (80km) north-west of Savannah, four dams burst on Wednesday as a result of floodwaters.
That forced the evacuation of local residents after homes were flooded and roads made impassable as lakes and creeks overflowed, the Bulloch county sheriff’s office reported.
Families told local news outlets that their homes were severely flood-damaged, with some getting as much as 12 inches of rain.
Nelson Burnsed, a Bulloch county resident, told the local news station WTOC that his home was ruined by the flood.
“Basically needs to be tore down and started over,” Burnsed said. “It’s devastating. It’s actually devastating. It’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed reporting
