Tropical Storm Debby is making a second landfall as flood threats loom in the Northeast
[ad_1]
Tropical Storm Debby made a second stop in South Carolina on its way up the East Coast, where residents as far north as Vermont could get a few inches of rain this weekend.
The National Hurricane Center says Debby made landfall early Thursday near Bulls Bay, South Carolina. The storm is expected to continue inland, spreading heavy rain and possible flooding into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast through the weekend.
Debby first emerged as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Now a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph).
Severe flooding is expected in parts of eastern South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina through Friday, with more than 3 to 9 inches (8 to 23 centimeters) of rain forecast and in parts of Virginia, according to the hurricane center.
Days of rain have forced flood-frustrated residents in a South Carolina community to begin the immediate task of assessing the damage left by Debby, which continued to circle the Atlantic Ocean and spawn thunderstorms from the East Coast to the Great Lakes on Wednesday. . The National Weather Service office in Charleston also said that research teams have confirmed Debby’s tornadoes.
And around 3 a.m. Thursday, a tornado formed as Debby’s outer planes blew across North Carolina and damaged at least four homes, a church and a school in Wilson County east of Raleigh, county officials said. No injuries were immediately reported. Debby could bring more storms Thursday to parts of North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said.
In Huger, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Charleston, Gene Taylor was waiting in the afternoon for a few inches of water to leave his house along French Quarter Creek as the waves passed.
Taylor realized there was a possibility of flooding last week and started moving things outside or upstairs in her house. It’s a lesson learned the hard way — Taylor estimates it’s the fourth time her home has flooded in the past nine years.
“To save everything, we have learned from the past that it is better to prepare for the worst. And unfortunately, I think we got it,” Taylor said.
A few doors down, Charles Grainger was cleaning up after about 8 inches (20 centimeters) of water entered his house.
“Eight inches affects your whole life,” Grainger said. “You don’t get used to it. You are just patient and patient. It’s part of life on the river.”
In Georgia, at least four dams have broken northwest of Savannah in Bulloch County, but no deaths have been reported, authorities said at a news conference.
More than 75 people have been rescued from floodwaters in the region, said Corey Kemp, director of emergency management, and about 100 roads have been closed.
“We’ve faced a lot of things that we’ve never faced before,” said Bulloch County Commission Chairman Roy Thompson. “I’m 78 years old and I’ve never seen anything like this in Bulloch County. It’s amazing what happened, and it’s going to be amazing until all this water gets out of here.”
For residents on Tappan Zee Drive in the suburb of Pooler, west of Savannah, Georgia, the drenching brought by Debby came with a painful dose of déjà vu. In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew flooded a nearby canal and flooded several similar homes.
Located about 30 miles (50 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, with no streams or rivers nearby, the area does not appear to be a high risk area for tropical flooding. But residents say drainage problems have plagued their road for more than a decade, despite the local government’s efforts to fix it.
Debby also brought rain to communities as far away as the Great Lakes and New York and New Jersey. The tropical storm’s moisture strengthened another system Tuesday evening, producing severe thunderstorms, according to meteorologist Scott Kleebauer.
“We’ve had a round of showers and thunderstorms from Michigan to the east,” Kleebauer said.
About 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain fell in parts of New Jersey in less than four hours.
Emergency officials in New York City have warned of possible flooding, flying drones with loudspeakers in some areas to tell people in basements to prepare to evacuate immediately. A number of water rescues have been reported in and around the city.
About 270,000 customers remained without power in Ohio as of Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, following strong storms including two confirmed tornadoes. Officials from FirstEnergy’s Illuminating Company said on social media that power would take days to restore due to the damage.
In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said his country had just entered Act 2 of the three-act play, after more than 60 homes were damaged but roads and water systems had no major problems.
The final act could come next week if enough rain falls upstream in North Carolina to cause major flooding along rivers as they flow toward the Atlantic Ocean.
A state of emergency was in effect in North Carolina and Virginia. Maryland has issued a preparedness declaration that includes preparations without declaring a state of emergency.
At least six people died as a result of the storm, five of them in road accidents or fallen trees. The sixth fatality involved a 48-year-old man in Gulfport, Florida, whose body was found after his cable boat capsized.
This story has been updated to remove an incorrect reference to total rainfall values for the Carolinas.
-Jeffrey Collins and John Minchillo, The Associated Press
[ad_2]
Source link
