Debby tracker: Latest forecast as storm triggers tornado and flash flood warnings along the East Coast

Dylan Stableford

Flash flood and tornado watches were issued early Friday in nearly a dozen states as Debby, now considered a post-tropical cyclone, moves from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast after drenching parts of the Southeast for most of the week.

A woman and her children look at a neighborhood inundated by floodwaters in Statesboro, Ga., earlier this week.
A neighborhood in Statesboro, Ga., inundated by floodwaters earlier this week. (Megan Varner/Getty Images) (Megan Varner via Getty Images)

Ground stops were issued at several major airports, including New York's LaGuardia and Reagan National Airport in Virginia. And a tornado warning and shelter-in-place advisory was issued U.S. Capitol complex in Washington, D.C.

As of 11 a.m. ET, Debby was moving northeast through Pennsylvania.

  • Location: 160 miles northeast of Pittsburgh; 215 miles west-southwest of Albany, N.Y.

  • Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph

  • Present movement: North-northeast at 37 mph

According to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center, flood watches and warnings are in effect for portions of the following areas:

  • South Carolina

  • North Carolina

  • Virginia

  • Maryland

  • Eastern West Virginia

  • Pennsylvania

  • New Jersey

  • Delaware

  • Upstate New York

  • Northern Vermont

  • Northern New Hampshire

  • District of Columbia

A tornado watch is now in effect for the following areas:

  • Maryland

  • Eastern Pennsylvania

  • Delaware

  • New Jersey

Debris from a tornado triggered by Tropical Storm Debby are seen at Springfield Middle School in Lucama, N.C.
A tornado-damaged Springfield Middle School in Lucama, N.C., on Thursday. (Allen G. Breed/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

There have already been at least four confirmed tornadoes associated with Debby. The Associated Press reported that one person died in a home damaged by a tornado in Lucama, N.C., on Thursday, raising the storm's overall death toll to seven.

(National Weather Service)
(National Weather Service)

Heavy rainfall and the risk of tornadoes, forecasters say.

Two to 4 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts amounts up to 6 inches, are expected from northern Virginia through upstate New York through Friday night. "This will likely result in areas of considerable flash and urban flooding, as well as river flooding," the hurricane center said.

For portions of Northern New England, 1 to 3 inches of rain are expected, resulting in isolated flash flooding.

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