Tornadoes spawned by Debby leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person early Thursday as the tropical system dumped heavy rain and flooded communities in North and South Carolina.
It took just 15 seconds for a tornado to devastate Genesis Cooper’s home in Lucama, North Carolina, a small town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Raleigh. He nearly fell asleep, if not for an alert on his wife’s phone.
He, his wife and their 20-year-old son huddled in a bathroom with blankets. They felt vibrations and heard glass breaking before hearing a sudden boom.
“I can’t even describe it. It’s like a suction, that’s what it felt like,” Cooper said. “Like something was squeezing, like your ears were popping.”
The tornado was one of at least three reported overnight in North Carolina, and perhaps the most devastating. One person was found dead in a home damaged by the Lucama tornado, Wilson County spokesman Stephen Mann said in an email. No further details about the person were immediately available.
Parts of the roof and walls of Cooper’s home were torn off, while side windows were shattered. But Cooper was calm and said they were in God’s hands.
“This is just material. It can be replaced,” he said.
The Wilson County Schools Superintendent confirmed the damage at Springfield Middle School, where portions of the walls and ceiling in the sixth- and seventh-grade hallways are missing or compromised.
Drone footage showed parts of the school’s roof torn away, exposing beams and ductwork. A section of wall had collapsed onto the sodden green lawn, which was strewn with twisted pieces of metal roofing and shredded insulation.
Tornado warnings continued to be issued in North Carolina and Virginia overnight. A tornado watch was in effect for more than 17 million people in parts of Washington DC, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia as of 7:00 a.m. Friday.
Meanwhile, a dam north of Fayetteville, North Carolina, broke Thursday morning as Debby flooded the area. About 12 to 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 additional vehicles that can rescue people in the event of flooding.
About 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Lucama, Bladenboro officers posted photos of a patrol car damaged by a fallen tree as well as roads that had been washed away. Standing water a few feet deep covered parts of the small North Carolina town.
Villagers had helped fill sandbags Wednesday before up to 3 feet (91 centimeters) of floodwaters built up in the town center overnight. When the sun came up, water could still be seen bubbling up through manhole covers.
Debby was a tropical depression late Thursday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds around 35 mph (55 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. It made landfall Monday morning on Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane. Debby then made a second landfall Thursday morning in South Carolina as a tropical storm.
At least seven people have died due to the tropical weather.
Still, more flooding was expected in North Carolina and South Carolina. Up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) more rain could fall before Debby passes those states. Parts of Maryland, upstate New York and Vermont could see similar rainfall totals by the end of the weekend, the weather service said.
Central parts of North Carolina through Virginia were forecast to receive 3 to 7 inches (8 to 18 centimeters) of rain, with isolated areas getting up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) through Friday. The hurricane center warned of the possibility of flash flooding.
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