First responders launched high-water and helicopter rescues of people trapped in cars and homes in rural New York and Pennsylvania as heavy rain from the remnants of Debby slammed the Northeast with intense flooding.
Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression late 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. Then, Debby made a second landfall early Thursday in South Carolina as a tropical storm.
At least eight people died so far due to Debby, most in vehicle accidents or from fallen trees.
The worst of the flash flooding so far in New York occurred in villages and hamlets in a largely rural area south of the Finger Lakes, not far from the Pennsylvania border.
Officer Ryan Troutman blocks a road Friday where a large tree fell due to high winds as Tropical Storm Debby moves north in Philadelphia.
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 roads impassable.
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In the hamlet of Woodhull, a rain-swollen creek ran so ferociously that water overtopped a bridge. Area resident Stephanie Waters said parts of sheds, branches, and uprooted trees were among the debris that slammed into the span.
“Hearing the trees hit the bridge was scary,” she said.
Fire Chief Timothy Martin said everybody was safe in Woodhull, but “every business in Woodhull is damaged.”
John Anderson said he watched the floodwaters come up quickly, overwhelming some vehicles in Canisteo, in Steuben County, and nearby in Andover, in Allegany County.
“It’s not a slow rise. It’s been very fierce,” said Anderson, who provided dispatches to The Wellsville Sun. He said he watched people’s belongings get carried away by the raging water.
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