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Tropical Storm Debby has made landfall for a second time in South Carolina in the early hours of Thursday morning as it charts its path northeast, bringing heavy rain and “major” flooding.
Debby came ashore near Bulls Bay, with the storm expected to impact the South Carolina and North Carolina coastline and continue moving inland to the Mid-Atlantic states, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
It comes just days after Debby first made landfall on Monday morning at Steinhatchee in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 1 hurricane, before tearing its way to the Florida-Georgia border by the evening and being downgraded to a tropical storm.
The Carolinas and Western Virgina face “major” flood threats with an additional three to nine inches of rainfall expected on Thursday.
A tornado watch warning from the National Weather Service (NWS) has also been issued for parts of North Carolina and Virginia, which will be reassessed 1pm ET.
More than 5m people stand in the twisters’ potential path including over 1,300 schools and almost 80 hospitals. Gusts could reach speeds of 70mph, however, there is no chance of hail, the NWS said.
South Carolina can expect and additional one to two inches of rainfall, the NHC said.
“A high risk of flash flooding continues for portions of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia through tonight,” it wrote in a Thursday morning update on X.
After broaching the East Coast, the storm is expected to move northeast with residents as far upstate as New York and Vermont facing several inches of rainfall by this weekend.
By Saturday, Debby could move through central North Carolina, Virginia and into Washington where it is expected to become an extratropical cyclone.
“Tropical cyclones always produce heavy rain, but normally as they’re moving, you know, it doesn’t accumulate that much in one place,” the NHC’s Richard Patch previously explained.
Hundreds of thousands homeowners and businesses were left without power across Florida and Georgia on Monday, as the states recorded five deaths between them due to the hurricane-force winds, “catastrophic” floods and intense storm surge.
South Carolina also experienced several hurricanes downing power lines and causing damage to properties.
And more than 18,000 flights have been delayed since Debby first made landfall on Monday.
Debby continued to move northeast through parts of Georgia and South Carolina through Tuesday, before moving offshore and meandering in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday.
There it stayed, inducing thunderstorms from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.
