Author: Lisa Lasker and David Sharp
BARRE, Vt. (AP) — The wreckage of Debbie barreled north on Friday with heavy rains, causing flooding and evacuations in western New York, killing at least eight people and causing new damage in days of destruction along the East Coast. of pain.
New York's worst flash flooding yet occurred in villages and hamlets in a largely rural area south of the Finger Lakes, not far from the Pennsylvania border.
In Steuben County, south of Rochester, two communities and some were under evacuation orders, leaving people trapped and floods that made many roads impassable as first responders launched rescue operations. County officials ordered the evacuation of parts of the towns of Jasper, Woodhull and Addison.
Steuben County Manager Jack Wheeler said the storm hit the same area of the county as Tropical Storm Fred three years ago, and six rapid water rescue teams were working to rescue people trapped in vehicles and homes.
John Anderson said he saw floodwaters rising rapidly, swamping some vehicles in Canisteo, Steuben County, and Andover, Allegheny County. “This is not a slow rise. It's very intense,” said Anderson, who provides news for the Wellsville Sun. He said he saw people's belongings being swept away from their basements by the raging floodwaters. “This is terrible.”
In Woodhull in Steuben County, Town Manager Scott Grant relied on phone calls and news reports to respond to emergencies, unable to leave his home because of flooded roads. “It looks like it's hit our streets again and it's not good,” he said.
Randy Padfield, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said a National Guard helicopter with water rescue capabilities was dispatched to Tioga County Friday afternoon as flooding conditions in the area along the New York state line became serious.
Padfield said Tioga officials sought assistance from eight to 10 rescue sites and also conducted multiple boat-based rescues.
In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott warned of severe damage in the state, including in parts of Vermont that were already inundated and hit twice by flash floods last month. Flooding hit the northeastern part of the state on July 30, washing away bridges, destroying homes and washing out roads in the rural town of Lyndon. Three weeks ago, the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl caused deadly flooding. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Vermont.
Rick Dente, owner of Dente's Market in Barrie, Vermont, used plastic and sandbags to protect his business as the rain poured down Friday. “There's nothing you can do,” he said.
Jaqi Kincaid, who was hit by flooding in Linden, Vermont, last month, said previous storms destroyed her garage and well, leaving them without water and downing a 120-foot (36-meter) tree. ) tall trees and removed fences. “We do a lot of this,” she told reporters, clasping her hands as if in prayer.
Rainwater flooded parts of downtown Annapolis, Maryland, including the U.S. Naval Academy campus, on Friday. Flash flooding hit the South Carolina town of Moncks Corner, where one of Debbie's early bands sparked a tornado on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service said fast-moving water as high as 3 feet (0.9 meters) surged into the city of Moncks Corner, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Charleston. In surrounding Berkeley County, emergency responders conducted 33 high-water rescues.
There have been eight dam breaches in Georgia, half of them in Bullock County, a rural area northwest of Savannah, Gov. Brian Kemp said. At one point, he said, 140 people were living in the shelter. Some poultry facilities in the state were also flooded, and some cattle died in flooded pastures, officials said.
The National Hurricane Center said Debbie was downgraded to a tropical depression late Thursday afternoon and a post-tropical cyclone on Friday. It made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday. Debbie then made its second landfall as a tropical storm in South Carolina early Thursday.
The National Hurricane Center said that as of 11 a.m. Friday, Debbie was centered between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Albany, New York, moving rapidly northeast at 37 mph (59 kph).
At least eight people have died related to Debbie. The latest victim was identified as Hilda Windsor Jones, a 78-year-old woman who died when a tree fell during a storm Thursday night, the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office said. She was home alone, her mobile home in North Carolina falling apart.
Accuweather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter warned that Debbie could bring an increased threat of tornadoes and flooding, including along the busy I-95 corridor.
“Debbie's final chapter will present multiple threats, and it's a dangerous threat,” Porter said.
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This story has been updated to correct that Judge Kincaid was hit by the flood once, not twice.
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Sharp reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writers Michael Hill in Altamont, New York; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Lea in Baltimore Lea Skene; Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
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