Debby finally moves out of the US, some flooding risk and power outages remain

The sun came out but the power stayed off in more than 100,000 homes and businesses across four states Saturday as Debby finally moved out of the U.S.

After first arriving in Florida as a hurricane, the storm spent the better part of a week unleashing tornadoes and flooding, damaging homes and taking lives as it moved up the East Coast.

Though the skies cleared, a flood warning remained in effect until Saturday night in a small part of northern New York where up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain fell. The National Weather Service said water there was receding slowly, and many roads remained flooded.

Nearly 170,000 customers in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont had no electricity Saturday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, and some utilities said restoration could take days. More than half the outages were in Ohio, where Debby-related storms including tornadoes blew through the northeastern part of the state on Wednesday.

Debby’s last day over the U.S. before moving over Canada inundated south-central New York and north-central Pennsylvania with rain Friday, prompting evacuations and rescues by helicopter. The post-tropical cyclone continued dropping rain on New England and southern Quebec on Friday night, though conditions improved the following morning as the system continued moving northeast.

Some of the worst flash flooding in New York happened in villages and hamlets in a largely rural area south of the Finger Lakes.

In Steuben County, which borders Pennsylvania, officials ordered the evacuation of the towns of Jasper, Woodhull and part of Addison, and said people were trapped as floodwaters made multiple roads impassable. The recovery effort was underway Saturday morning, as emergency workers cleared debris and helped residents pump floodwater from their basements.

Officials in Tioga County in north-central Pennsylvania said a search and rescue operation was going on for one person unaccounted for in the Knoxville area after flooding that prompted dozens of rescues.

Fire Chief William Goltz of Crary Hose Co. in Westfield said 30 to 50 water rescues were conducted using boats aided by two helicopters, and those rescued included some firefighters who became trapped while trying to help others.

Officials said about 100 people were displaced and several shelters opened, but by midday Saturday only 14 remained in one shelter. They urged people to document damage before beginning cleanup and to send them any images of the flooding.

The weather service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in Pennsylvania’s capital city early Friday. Forecasters said the tornado, with peak winds estimated at 105 mph (169 kph), touched down just after 4:30 a.m. in Harrisburg and traveled north for almost 3 ½ miles (5.6 kilometers), blowing off a set of overhead doors at a warehouse and causing roof damage to a church and roof and structural damage to several homes, as well as uprooting dozens of trees.

Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression Thursday afternoon and was a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said. It made landfall early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane, emerged over the Atlantic Ocean and hit land a second time early Thursday in South Carolina as a tropical storm.

President Joe Biden declared that a major disaster exists in Florida and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts in areas hit by Hurricane Debby, according to a statement.

There have been at least nine deaths related to Debby, mostly in vehicle accidents or from fallen trees.

In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott had warned that Debby’s remnants could cause serious damage, including in already drenched places that were hit by flash flooding twice last month, but a flood watch was called off by mid-evening.

About 19,000 Vermont homes and businesses remained without power Saturday afternoon, down from more than 44,000 the previous day. Officials said wind gusts of more than 60 mph (97 kph) tore down massive trees in some places where the ground remained saturated from previous storms.

“There is widespread, extensive damage in many locations,” said Mike Burke, vice president of operations at Green Mountain Power. “The repeated storms we are experiencing in Vermont are not just heartbreaking, they are happening more frequently and they doing more damage like this.”

By Associated Press