Multiple tornadoes touch down across North Carolina as Tropical Storm Debby pushes through the state (2024)

FAQs

How did the tropical storm Debby affect North Carolina? ›

The storm killed four people in North Carolina, and heavy rain, tornadoes and flooding damaged infrastructure and homes. Riverine flooding remains a risk for several communities this week, keeping the State Emergency Response Team and many counties in the active response phase.

While Debby was a low-end tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of just 50 mph when it made landfall along the South Carolina coast on Thursday morning, it packed a surprisingly severe punch within its outer bands. Total precipitation and confirmed tornadoes from Tropical Storm Debby in North Carolina.

After moving inland over northern Florida and southern Georgia, Debby slowed and moved back over the ocean off the coast of South Carolina on Aug. 6. At about 2 a.m. EDT on Aug. 8, Debby made a second landfall near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, with sustained winds of roughly 50 mph.

Debby has been downgraded from a tropical storm but is lashing the coasts of the Carolinas with rain. Emergency crews performed 33 high water rescues in a South Carolina county Friday after up to 9 incheS of rain fell overnight from the remnants of Debby.

Winds in excess of 100 km/h (62 mph) battered the island for more than 24 hours. Power outages affected at least 63,000 properties across Queensland, and numerous trees were uprooted during the storm, with some crashing onto homes. Many animals would have been left to die.

Overview. After making landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane on August 5, Debby weakened to a tropical storm as it slowly moved across southeastern Georgia and offshore before making another landfall along the central SC coast between Charleston and Georgetown.

Fast-moving storm: Debby looks to move much faster through Virginia than early projected, with most of the heaviest rain over by sunrise Friday in the southern half of Virginia and out of the state entirely by mid-afternoon Friday as the center of the storm moves north of the state.

The Lifestyle Is Laid Back

In North Carolina, there's always time for a backyard barbecue or a glass of sweet tea on the porch.

8. For the latest news on the storm, view our story for Friday, Aug. 9. Though no longer a tropical storm, now-Tropical Depression Debby was still dropping copious amounts of rain on eastern states Thursday evening as the Northeast braces for the system's arrival.

What level is Hurricane Debby? ›

As noted, Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane, exposing a relatively small area in Florida to hurricane force winds. However, a much broader area of Florida and Georgia has been exposed to tropical storm force winds.

The March 1984 outbreak also had the state's deadliest tornado. It was an F4 tornado in Lenoir, Greene and Pitt counties. The storm was blamed for 16 deaths and 153 injuries.

Regional activity. Tornadoes have been documented in every U.S. state (not including the non-state territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico) at least once since 1950, although some regions and states are hit by tornadoes far more than others.

Heavy rains caused more estimated damage that Beryl and Idalia, but less than Ian and Florence, AccuWeather says. The total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Debby in the United States is $28 billion, according to a preliminary estimate from forecasting firm AccuWeather.

Due to its location, many hurricanes have hit the state directly, and numerous hurricanes have passed near or through North Carolina in its history; the state is ranked fourth, after Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, in the number of cyclones that produced hurricane-force winds in a U.S. state.

Hurricane Hazel is the strongest-known, landfalling hurricane in North Carolina history. The eye of Hazel eye came ashore near the North Carolina and South Carolina state line, where it created devastating damage.

Numerous roads were flooded by storm surge and at least partially impassible, including NC 12 on Ocraco*ke and Hatteras Island, Hwy 70 near the North River Bridge in Carteret County, and several roads Down East Carteret County.