By Eduardo Medina, Christine Hauser and Judson Jones
A reinvigorated Tropical Storm Debby unleashed torrents of rain on some the Carolinas’ largest cities Thursday as the former hurricane pushed into Virginia. One of several small tornadoes spawned by the storm killed a man and damaged a school in Lucama, North Carolina, east of Raleigh, and roads and highways across the state were covered in water.
After moving at barely more than the pace of a human walking since making its first landfall in Florida on Monday, Debby is speeding up. It will eventually merge with another storm system that will bring rain to the Northeast through the weekend, triggering floods from central Maryland into upstate New York and western New England.
Here is what else to know:
— Final pass: The wet, weary Southeast will see some relief after Thursday. But before that, forecasters said, there was a risk of more flash flooding as Debby moves into Virginia. Three to 7 inches of rain could fall there and in eastern North Carolina, with 10 inches possible in some spots.
— Overnight damage: The 1,600 residents of Bladenboro, North Carolina, were told to seek shelter in a nearby high school after the town was cut off completely by rising floodwaters. More than 115,000 customers across the state were without power Thursday afternoon, most in central North Carolina.
— Climate change: A warming planet has contributed to the increasing destructiveness of hurricanes over time. Climate change is producing more powerful storms that generate heavier rainfall and flooding. Still, humans continue to build along vulnerable parts of the coast, making storm damage more extensive.
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