Tornadoes spawned by Tropical Storm Debby rip through North Carolina

LUCAMA, N.C. — (AP) — Tornadoes spawned by Tropical Storm Debby leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person early Thursday, as the system dropped heavy rain and flooded communities across North and South Carolina.

It only took 15 seconds for a tornado to devastate Genesis Cooper’s home in Lucama, North Carolina, a small town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Raleigh. He almost slept through it — if not for an alert on his wife’s phone.

The 51-year-old, his wife and their 20-year-old son huddled in the home’s middle bathroom with blankets. They felt vibrations and heard glass shattering before hearing a sudden boom.

“I can’t even describe it. It’s like, suction, that’s what it felt like,” Cooper said. “Like something is squeezing, like your ears are popping.”

The tornado was one of at least three reported overnight in North Carolina, and perhaps the most devastating. One person was found dead in a home damaged by the Lucama tornado, Wilson County spokesman Stephen Mann said in an email. No further details on the person were immediately provided.

Cooper said the tornado was so intense, the wind gusts dragged a large punching bag out of his son’s bedroom and flung it into the living room, knocking his son’s door off the hinges. Parts of their home’s roof and walls were torn off, causing water to leak inside. The side windows were busted out, and the pool deck in the back was in shambles.

Despite it all, Cooper seemed to be calm, saying that he knew they were in God’s hands.

“This is just stuff. It can be replaced,” Cooper said.

Theresa Richardson hunkered down with her husband and granddaughter in the closet of their Lucama home as the tornado tore through about a mile away.

Debris struck the house. And they could hear the roof of nearby Springfield Middle School being ripped off.

Richardson said this wasn’t the first time the area was struck by a tornado: her neighbors call the road they live on “Tornado Alley.”

The superintendent of Wilson County Schools confirmed damage at Springfield Middle School, where sections of the walls and roof of the 6th and 7th grade halls are gone or compromised.

“It was heartbreaking to see the school right after the event,” Superintendent Lane Mills said in a statement.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a briefing Thursday that the state has activated more National Guard troops and added additional vehicles that can rescue people in floods as rains from Debby keep drenching the state.

Cooper said his thoughts were with the man killed by the tornado and his family. The governor spoke at a National Guard armory, where weather alarms could be heard going off behind him.

Meanwhile, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Lucama, deputies in Bladenboro posted photos of a patrol car damaged by a tree, as well as roads that had been washed out. Standing water a few feet deep covered parts of the tiny North Carolina town.

Many townspeople helped fill sandbags on Wednesday before up to 3 feet (91 centimeters) of floodwaters backed into the downtown overnight. When the sun came up, water could still be seen bubbling out of manhole covers.

Emily Dowless, who co-owns furniture store Market on Main, said 20 neighbors and friends helped moved items from the store into trailers and up off the floor in anticipation of flooding. She said about 3 inches (8 centimeters) of water made it inside the business.

“If the worst is over, that’s great,” she said. “But again, we are expecting more rain, so we’re just going to kind of play it ear. Make sure we’re taking care of all of our neighbors and that all is well.”

The National Hurricane Center said Debby made a second landfall early Thursday near Bulls Bay, South Carolina — about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Charleston. Debby first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

More flooding was expected in parts of eastern South Carolina and southeast North Carolina, where an additional 3 to 9 inches (8 to 23 centimeters) of rain is possible as the storm moves north. That raised concerns that flash floods could strike mountainous areas of Virginia and West Virginia.

Debby also could bring more tornadoes Thursday in parts of North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said. The storm was expected to churn up the East Coast, where residents as far north as Vermont could get several inches of flooding rain this weekend.

Meanwhile, floodwaters haven't even fully drained out of some homes in South Carolina.

Robert Chesnut stood in nearly a foot (30 centimeters) of water inside his Isle of Palms home Thursday morning with a rented an industrial pump that looked like a fire hose. After more than three hours, only about an inch (2.5 centimeters) of water had been pulled out of his house on the barrier island near Charleston.

And once the water is gone, there is still a lot of work to do.

“This is contaminated water,” Chesnut said. “These houses are on septic tanks. I hate to say it, but that’s fecal matter. You have to disinfect everything.”

A state of emergency was in effect for both North Carolina and Virginia. Maryland issued a state of preparedness declaration that coordinates preparations without declaring an emergency.

At least seven people have died due to the storm.

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This story has been updated to remove an incorrect reference to total rainfall amounts for the Carolinas.

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Associated Press contributors include Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Jeff Martin in Atlanta, and freelance photographer Mic Smith in Isle of Palms, South Carolina.

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