The Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states are expected to be deluged by rain and severe weather from the remnants of Tropical Depression Debby Friday and into the weekend, bringing dangerous flash flooding and the threat of tornadoes.
Flood warnings and watches are in effect from the Carolinas to New England, the National Weather Service warned in an update early Friday, with rainfall reaching 15 to 25 inches in places.
Along Debby’s northeast path, many areas will receive between 3 and 7 inches of rain, enough to cause “significant to locally catastrophic flooding through tomorrow morning,” the weather service said. At least seven people have died as a result of Debby.
Debby has weakened since making landfall in the United States and was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday after making its second landfall in South Carolina with sustained winds of 30 mph early Friday, but its main threat is the amount of rain it can still produce.
Authorities in Berkeley County, South Carolina, said early Friday that 2 to 3 feet of water was rushing through the streets of Moncks Corner, north of Charleston, prompting multiple rescues.
The water was high enough for kayaking in Longs, South Carolina.
Tornadoes are also possible Friday morning in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, before the risk of tornadoes shifts to New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and southeastern New York later in the day.
Video showed a tornado touching down near Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Thursday evening.
Vermont, which was hit by severe flooding twice last month, is bracing for another major extreme weather event on Friday.
Hershey Park in Pennsylvania announced it was closing Friday “due to severe weather caused by Tropical Storm Debby.”
A strong cold front extending from the southwest Great Lakes into the Plains is pushing Debby northeast and also bringing very cold temperatures for August. The central Plains, middle Mississippi Valley and northern Minnesota could see record temperatures Friday, with some areas 20 to 25 degrees below daily averages.
