Tropical Storm Debby regains some strength, second landfall expected Thursday

Tropical Storm Debby is regaining some strength as it travels across water off the East Coast.

The storm has bumped back up to 60-mph maximum sustained winds, but continues its slow crawl northeast at about 3 mph. On Wednesday night, Debby was about 25 miles east-northeast of Charleston, South Carolina.

Debby is expected to be over the coast of South Carolina again early on Thursday morning. The storm may continue to strengthen until then, the National Hurricane Center says, though not to hurricane strength. It is expected to weaken once it makes landfall again.

On Wednesday night a tropical storm warning was in effect from Edisto Beach, South Carolina to Surf City, North Carolina.

The storm is forecast to drop between 3 and 9 more inches of rain across southeast North Carolina, pushing totals as high as 25 inches in South Carolina and 15 inches in southeast North Carolina. Considerable flooding is expected to continue in the affected areas through Friday.

Georgia may receive another 1 to 2 inches of rain from the tail end of the storm through Thursday.

In Charleston, squalls and rain were expected through Wednesday. A mandatory curfew has been lifted as the rain tapers off.

From eastern South Carolina across Virginia, 3 to 7 inches of rain and as many as 10 inches in places could contribute to flooding through Friday. The region from Maryland through to upstate New York could see 2 to 4 inches through Saturday morning.

The National Hurricane Center says tornadoes are possible over eastern North Carolina and extreme eastern South Carolina on Wednesday.

At least six people have died as a result of the storm.

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Debby also spun up some small tornadoes. In one region, trucks were flipped on top of each other, windows were knocked out and trees were toppled over as a result.

Officials continue to urge residents to follow local guidelines.

The storm has also been disrupting travel.

There were more than 7,000 flight delays within, into, or out of the U.S. on Tuesday, and more than 500 flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.

By Friday, the storm, expected to downgrade to a depression, should reach the D.C. area.