Debby's Remnants Pose Flood, Tornado Threats To East | Weather.com (2024)

Debby's remnants are tracking northward across the East, with its threats of flooding rain, gusty winds and isolated tornadoes continuing from the Carolinas to New England through early Saturday.

Current status: Bands of soaking rain in association with Debby's moisture and a pair of fronts extend from the mid-Atlantic to New England.

M​ultiple flash flood warnings remain in effect, as shown by the dark green polygons in the map below. That includes higher-end flash flood emergency warnings in Steuben and southeastern Allegany counties in New York and Potter and western Tioga counties in Pennsylvania.

Water rescues due to flooding have been reported this morning in coastal South Carolina as well as parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and upstate New York. See the link below for more details on Debby's impacts.

(​LIVE UPDATES: Debby's Flood, Tornado And Wind Impacts)

D​ebby's outer rainbands are still capable of spawning a few tornadoes, as well. A tornado watch is in effect until 10 p.m. EDT from northeast Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey into parts of central and eastern New York and western New England.

Rainfall flood threat: The main threat for more widespread heavy rainfall through Friday night in the East is from the Appalachians to upstate New York and northern New England, or in the areas shaded in red on the map below. Given wet ground from recent heavy rain in upstate New York and northern New England, any wind gusts even as modest as 30 mph from Debby's remnant could topple some trees in spots.

A​bout a month ago, the remnant from what was once Hurricane Beryl triggered major flash flooding from upstate New York to Vermont, northern New Hampshire and Maine, washing out roads and flooding some towns.

A​s already mentioned, trailing bands of rain in the eastern Carolinas will continue to produce a flood threat in those already water-logged areas through the rest of today.

T​he map below shows how much additional rain can be expected into Saturday across the East.

If you live in a low-lying flood-prone area, stay alert and follow the latest updates and warnings. Never attempt to drive through a flooded stretch of road or around barriers that signal a road closure. Over half of deaths in floods happen in vehicles, according to NOAA statistics.

I​solated tornado threat: A few tornadoes could spin up in remnant Debby's bands of rain and thunderstorms again Friday from eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey to eastern New York and western New England. That includes the Philadelphia, New York City and Albany, New York, areas.

R​ecap

Debby formed from a tropical wave the National Hurricane Center first started highlighting for possible development in the Atlantic on July 26.

Dry air kept it from developing for days as it tracked toward the northern Caribbean Islands. Eventually, it sprouted enough showers and thunderstorms, prompting the NHC to designate Tropical Depression Four at 11 p.m. EDT on Aug. 2 near Cuba.

It then strengthened into Tropical Storm Debby late on Aug. 3 in the southeast Gulf of Mexico.

D​ebby intensified into a hurricane at 11 p.m. on Aug. 4 ahead of its Category 1 landfall near Steinhatchee, Florida, on the morning of Aug. 5. That was just 15 miles away from where Hurricane Idalia made landfall along Florida's Big Bend last August.

Debby then moved inland over north Florida into southern Georgia, slowing its forward speed, before emerging back over the ocean just off the coast of South Carolina on Aug. 6.

B​y that time, Debby had begun ingesting some dry air, which not only had reduced the coverage of heaviest rainbands, but also limited its potential to restrengthen while over water.

Debby made its final landfall near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, at 2 a.m. EDT Aug. 8 with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, then was downgraded to a tropical depression late that afternoon while centered just east of Charlotte, North Carolina.

D​ebby dumped over 10 inches of rain over many areas from western and northern Florida into eastern Georgia and the Carolinas. The peak rainfall tally was 19.67 inches near Lake City, Florida.

F​lash flooding and river flooding swamped some homes, washed out roads and stranded vehicles. Among the hardest hit areas were parts of Manatee and Sarasota Counties, Florida; Live Oak, Florida; eastern Georgia including near Statesboro, and Colleton County, South Carolina, where a 20-acre pond was drained after two holes were punched in dikes surrounding the pond. Flooding was also reported in North Carolina, including Fayetteville and the Wilmington, North Carolina, metro area, where at least 3 feet of water was reported on roads north of Carolina Beach and near Leland.

The Manatee River just east of Bradenton, Florida (Rye Bridge), topped its previous record flood crest from July 21, 1962. The Canoochee River near Claxton, Georgia, topped its previous record crest that stood since New Year's Day 1925.

Those were just two of over two dozen river gauges that rose to moderate or major flood stage from Florida to southern Virginia.

S​torm Surge

D​ebby pushed Gulf water into the Florida coast as a tropical storm and hurricane, adding to the storm's water impact.

T​his storm surge hit some of the same areas affected by Idalia almost one year ago, but likely not nearly matching the 8 to 12-foot inundation above ground of Idalia from Keaton Beach to Steinhatchee.

C​edar Key, Florida, had a storm surge of up to 5.8 feet above normal tide levels, equating to a peak inundation of about 4.65 feet above ground level as Hurricane Debby made landfall on Aug. 5.

F​arther south, the combination of a new moon, high tide and Debby lead to a peak inundation at Ft. Myers, Florida, higher than Idalia and Irma, according to WINK-TV meteorlogist Matt Devitt, at just over 3 feet above ground level.

T​he surge and battering waves ate away at the side of the Howard Frankland Bridge over Old Tampa Bay, and chewed up a section of Harbor Drive in Venice, Florida.

W​inds

D​ebby produced wind gusts of at least 70 mph near Chiefland (76 mph), Dania Beach (73 mph) and near Palmetto (70 mph).

G​usts over 60 mph were clocked at Cedar Key, Sarasota-Bradenton Airport (63 mph) and at Folly Beach, South Carolina (63 mph).

A​t the peak of the storm, over 300,000 customers were without power from Florida to the Carolinas.

E​ven after Debby made its final landfall, wind gusts over 30 mph and soaked ground lead to downed trees in over 70 locations in the Carolinas and southern Virginia. Numerous trees were downed in Rockingham, Stokes and Yadkin Counties, North Carolina.

T​ornadoes

A​s with most landfalling hurricanes and tropical storms, some tornadoes were spawned across the Southeast within Debby's rainbands.

A​t least seven tornadoes were spawned in the Lowcountry of South Carolina on the night of Aug. 5. That included an EF1 tornado in Edisto Beach and another EF1 twister in Moncks Corner.

T​wo days later, at least one, possibly two separate tornadoes spin through eastern North Carolina, damaging homes in Sampson County and tossing debris onto a highway in Pender County, north of Wilmington. A deadly tornado after midnight on Aug. 8 near Lucama, North Carolina, collapsed a home, claiming one life.

M​ORE ON WEATHER.COM: Photos From Debby's Damage