LUCAMA, NC (AP) — A tornado is brewing Debbie It leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person early Thursday morning Tropical system Heavy rain fell and flooded communities across North and South Carolina.
It took only 15 seconds for a tornado to destroy Genesis Cooper’s home in Lucama, North Carolina, a small town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Raleigh. He almost fell asleep – if not the alert on his wife’s phone.
He, his wife and their 20-year-old son huddled in the bathroom with blankets. They felt vibrations and heard glass break before hearing a sudden boom.
“I can’t even describe it. It felt like, like, sucking,” Cooper said. “Like something pressing, like your ears are popping.”
National Hurricane Center meteorologist Robbie Berg says more rain can be expected from Tropical Storm Debbie.
The tornado was one of at least three reported overnight in North Carolina and could be the most destructive. One person was found dead in a home damaged by Hurricane Lucama, Wilson County spokesman Stephen Mann said in an email. Additional details about the man were not immediately available.
Parts of Cooper’s house’s roof and walls were torn off, and side windows were broken. But Cooper remained silent, saying they were in God’s hands.
“It’s just material. It can be changed,” he said.
The Wilson County Superintendent of Schools confirmed damage at Springfield Middle School, where parts of the walls and ceiling of the 6th and 7th grade classrooms were gone or compromised.
Drone footage showed parts of the school’s roof being torn off, exposing rafters and pipe work. Part of the wall collapsed onto the wet green lawn, strewn with twisted pieces of metal roofing and shredded insulation.
Tornado warnings were issued throughout North Carolina and Virginia into the night. As of 7 a.m. Friday, a tornado watch was in effect for more than 17 million people in Washington, DC, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
Meanwhile, Debbie drenched the area after a dam broke Thursday morning north of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Between 12 and 15 homes were evacuated, but no one was injured and no structures were damaged, Harnett County spokeswoman Desiree Patrick said in an email.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a briefing Thursday that the state has activated more National Guard troops and added more vehicles to rescue people in the flood.
Deputies in Bladenboro, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Lucama, released the photos. A patrol vehicle was damaged by a falling treeAs well as flooded roads. A few feet deep in a small North Carolina town.
City residents helped fill sandbags Wednesday before 3 feet (91 centimeters) of floodwater returned downtown overnight. Even as the sun rose, water could be seen bubbling from the manhole covers.
Hurricane debris swirled by remnants of Tropical Storm Debbie on the Springfield Middle School campus in Lucama, NC on August 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Alan G. Breed)
Forrest Lennon, owner of Diamond Dave’s Grill in Plattenboro, was still counting his blessings after 5 inches (13 centimeters) of flooding flooded his restaurant. He and his wife have owned the place since September. The previous owner said the building was flooded with 3 feet of water during the last two hurricanes, Matthew and Florence.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Lennon said, adding that they did everything they could to prepare for the storm.
“We came in here, we got everything we could from the ground up … and we left and prayed for the best,” he said.
Debbie was a tropical depression Thursday afternoon with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. It caused a landslide Monday starts A Category 1 hurricane on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Later, Debbie made a second landfall early Thursday morning as a tropical storm in South Carolina.
At least seven people have died due to tropical weather.
Still, more flooding is expected in North and South Carolina. Debbie could drop another 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain before clearing those states. Parts of Maryland, upstate New York and Vermont could receive similar showers. By the end of the weekThe weather service said.
Central parts of North Carolina to Virginia will receive 3 to 7 inches (8 to 18 centimeters) of rain, with isolated areas receiving up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) through Friday. The Cyclone Center has warned of the possibility of flash flooding.
Some residents of southeast Georgia were warned of more flooding Thursday after Debbie left the Carolinas, with rain-swollen rivers overflowing their banks.
The Ogeechee River west of Savannah was forecast to reach its major flood stage Thursday night and overflow early Sunday morning. Emergency officials in Effingham County called for the evacuation of some residents near the river.
Officials in neighboring Chatham County, which includes Savannah, let residents decide whether to evacuate, although rescue crews with boats had already rescued 17 people from homes threatened by river flooding.
Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis told a news conference to expect unprecedented water.
“If you have a significant amount of water in your yard, I would say get out now while you still have a chance,” he added.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Thursday that Debbie’s effects are not completely over, as rain in North Carolina could cause rivers to overflow and flood downstream.
“We’ve overcome some of the pitfalls, but there’s more,” McMaster said. “So don’t let your guard down just yet.”
Back on the beach, Robert Chesnut stood in nearly a foot of water inside his Isle of Palms home and rented a factory pump that looked like a fire hose. In more than three hours, only about an inch (2.5 centimeters) of water was drained from his home on Barrier Island near Charleston.
And when the water dries up there’s still a lot of work to do.
“It’s dirty water,” Chesnutt said. “These houses have septic tanks. I hate to say it, but that’s shit. You must disinfect everything.
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This story has been updated to correct the business owner’s first name. He’s Forrest Lennon, not the forest. An earlier version of this story removed an incorrect reference to the Carolinas’ rainfall totals.
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Associated Press contributors Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Jeff Martin in Atlanta and freelance photographer Mike Smith in Isle of Palms, South Carolina.
