Skip to content
NOWCAST WDSU News at 10pm
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

Flooding from the remnants of Debby leads to high water rescues

Flooding from the remnants of Debby leads to high water rescues
BUT IT WASN’T A BIG RAIN THAT WE TALKED ABOUT LAST NIGHT OR EARLY THIS MORNING, BUT YOU CAN SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW. THIS SYSTEM IS MOVING ITS WAY OUT OF HERE VERY RAPIDLY, BUT IT’S THIS TRAILING EDGE RIGHT HERE THAT WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON BECAUSE THAT’S THE AREA THAT’S MOST LIKELY TO HAVE SOME SEVERE WEATHER WITH IT. SO AS THIS MOVES ITS WAY THROUGH, IT’LL JUST KIND OF COME SWEEPING ITS WAY RIGHT ACROSS THE STATE. THE BIGGEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE UNTIL ABOUT 8:00 TONIGHT. AND THAT’S WHY WE HAVE THIS A TORNADO WATCH BOX OUT FOR AREAS WEST OF WORCESTER UNTIL ABOUT 10:00 TONIGHT. AFTER THAT, THERE STILL COULD BE SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OUT THERE, BUT THE TORNADO THREAT DOES DIMINISH CONSIDERABLY AT THAT POINT. BUT OBVIOUSLY WE’RE GOING TO BE KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON IT. LOOK AT THESE CELLS. THEY’RE LINED UP AND THEY’RE ROARING THIS WAY AT ABOUT 40 MILES AN HOUR. SO THEY DON’T HANG AROUND VERY LONG. BUT BOY WHEN YOU GET INTO ONE IT RAINS REALLY HARD REALLY QUICKLY BECAUSE THE AIR IS SO, SO, SO SATURATED OUT THERE. RIGHT NOW. GOT A LITTLE ONE JUST KIND OF PASSING ITS WAY THROUGH BOSTON YOU SAW IT ON THE CITY CAM MORE WEST OF 495 AT THIS POINT. SO FAR, NONE OF THIS IS SEVERE, BUT CERTAINLY IF YOU’RE DRIVING, BE CAREFUL. THERE CAN BE SOME PONDING ON THE ROADS. NOW, ONCE YOU GET WAY OFF TO THE WEST. THIS IS WHERE WE REALLY HAVE SEEN A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF RAIN OUT HERE TODAY, WHICH IS WHY YOU’RE SEEING A VARIETY OF FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS, WATCHES, ALL OF THAT GOING ON IN NEW YORK STATE. AND THIS LINE IS WHAT WE’LL BE WATCHING AS IT MARCHES ITS WAY EASTWARD AS WE HEAD THROUGH THE EVENING. SO THERE’S ALWAYS WITH A TROPICAL STORM LIKE THIS, A LOW RISK, NOT ZERO, BUT A LOW RISK THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY GET SOME TORNADOES TO SPIN UP. THE GREATEST RISK, I THINK, IS GOING TO BE WEST OF 495 UNTIL ABOUT 8:00 TONIGHT. QUICK SPIN UPS. THEY HAPPEN VERY QUICKLY. THEY ALSO FALL APART VERY QUICKLY. AND THAT’S ALSO THE KIND OF THE NATURE OF THESE SYSTEMS IS THAT THEY HAPPEN. SO QUICKLY. IT’S OFTEN VERY DIFFICULT TIME TO REALLY FIND THEM. AND ALSO THERE’S NOT A WHOLE LOT OF LIGHTNING AND THUNDER WITH THESE THINGS WHEN THEY MOVE THROUGH. SO TONIGHT WE HAVE THUNDERSTORMS, SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE, VERY MUGGY, 70 TO 76 DEGREES AS FAR AS RAIN IS CONCERNED. MOST OF US ARE PROBABLY GOING TO GET A GOOD HALF INCH OF RAIN OUT OF IT. BUT IF YOU’RE IN ONE OF THOSE DOWNPOURS, YOU CAN EASILY PICK UP AN INCH OF RAIN OUT OF THE WHOLE THING. SO AS FAR AS TOMORROW’S CONCERN, WE HAVE MORNING RAIN AND THEN BY AFTERNOON WE’RE STARING AT SUNSHINE. AND THE OTHER THING IS, IT’S SO MUGGY OUT THERE RIGHT NOW. HUMIDITY IS JUST GOING TO DROP TOMORROW AFTERNOON, HIGH TEMPERATURES TOMORROW. IT WILL BE WARM, BUT IT WON’T FEEL THAT BAD BECAUSE THE HUMIDITY WILL BE GOING DOWN AND WE’VE GOT A SOUTHWEST BREEZE COMING IN AT ABOUT 10 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR. ALL RIGHT, HERE’S THE WAY IT BREAKS DOWN. THEN OVER THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS, TOMORROW MORNING IT’S RAIN. AFTER THAT, THE WEATHER IS REALLY PRETTY QUIET. IT’S SUNNY, IT’S DRY. I HAVE ONE LITTLE DISTURBANCE ON MONDAY THAT MIGHT GIVE US AN AFTERNOON SHOWER. IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A BIG EVENT. DOESN’T LOOK LIKE ANYTHING SEVERE. DOESN’T EVEN LOOK LIKE THERE’LL BE LIGHTNING AND THUNDER WITH IT. AND THEN THE PLEASANT WEATHER CONTINUES ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE PART OF THE WEEK. WE GET TOWARDS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. NOW WE HAVE TO PUT SOME AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS IN. THE HUMIDITY WILL COME UP A LITTLE BIT, BUT REALLY WE’RE GOING TO BE REWARDED WITH SOME BEAUTIFUL WEATHER. THIS WEEKEND INTO
Advertisement
Flooding from the remnants of Debby leads to high water rescues
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.What to knowAt least nine people have died related to Debby, most in vehicle accidents or from fallen trees. Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression late Thursday afternoon, and was a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.The worst of the flash flooding in New York so far occurred in villages and hamlets in a largely rural area south of the Finger Lakes, not far from the Pennsylvania border.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 multiple roads impassable.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 was providing dispatches to The Wellsville Sun. He said he watched people's belongings get carried away by the raging water.In Canisteo, farm owners Cliff and Deb Moss suffered heavy damage to their dairy farm, which has been there for more than five decades. A neighbor's double-wide trailer floated down a field to a river during the flooding, said their daughter, Stacey Urban said.Urban said the catastrophic damage to the community was still coming into focus, and was hard to fathom."They have lost a lot. Beyond heart breaking," said Urban.Ann Farkas, who also lives in Canisteo, said it was the first time her home, one of the oldest in the county, has flooded since she moved there in 1976. She now has to shovel out layers of thick and heavy silt that were left behind.“The water’s going down, and so what's left is this really thick — it's like wet concrete — mud,” Farkas said. Her plans are to clean out a garage so furniture can be moved there before the baseboards, floorboards and possibly the subflooring on the first floor can be ripped up.“Like a lot of people, I don’t have flood insurance, so I doubt my homeowner’s is going to cover any of this," she said.Steuben County manager Jack Wheeler said the storm was hitting some of the same areas as Tropical Storm Fred three years earlier, and that a half-dozen swift water rescue steams were actively retrieving people trapped in vehicles and homes.Video below: Tornado damage from DebbyAbout 20 evacuees arrived at a Red Cross shelter set up at a high school, Red Cross spokesman Michael Tedesco said. A second shelter was also being set up at another high school in Steuben County.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency.Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield said a National Guard helicopter with aquatic rescue capability was sent to Tioga County because flooding conditions had become severe in the region that runs along the New York state line.Padfield said Tioga officials have asked for help with eight to 10 rescue locations, and there are also multiple boat-based rescues being conducted.In Potter County, also on the border with New York, the storm took out bridges and did severe damage to Route 49, said Commissioner Bob Rossman."My understanding is the roadway is pretty much well gone," Rossman said. "That'll be a very costly replacement. And one of the main thoroughfares in the county."He said one firefighter suffered water-related injuries but Rossman did not know the extent.More than 150,000 customers were without power across New York and Pennsylvania, according to PowerOutage.us.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.In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott warned the remnants of Debby could cause serious damage in the state, including already drenched parts of Vermont that were hit by flash flooding twice last month. Flooding that slammed the northeastern part of the state on July 30 knocked out bridges, destroyed and damaged homes, and washed away roads in the rural town of Lyndon. It came three weeks after deadly flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. President Joe Biden approved Vermont's emergency declaration.Video above: Line of storm damage stretches across Pennsylvania communitiesRick Dente, who owns Dente's Market in Barre, Vermont, worked to protect his business with plastic and sandbags as the rain poured down on Friday. "There isn't a whole lot else you can do," he said.Jaqi Kincaid, hit by flooding last month in Lyndon, Vermont, said the previous storm knocked out her garage and well, so they have no water. It also felled a 120-foot tree and took down fencing.“We’re doing a lot of this,” Kincaid said, holding her hands together as if in prayer.Stormwater swamped parts of downtown Annapolis, Maryland, including at the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday. And flash flooding hit the South Carolina town of Moncks Corner, where one of Debby’s early bands unleashed a tornado on Tuesday. Across the surrounding Berkeley County, emergency crews made 33 high-water rescues.There were eight dam breaches in Georgia, half of them in rural Bulloch County northwest of Savannah, Gov. Brian Kemp said. At one point, 140 people were in shelters, he said. Some poultry facilities flooded, and some cattle were lost in flooded pastures, officials said.There have been at least nine deaths related to Debby, most in vehicle accidents or from fallen trees.

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.


Advertisement

What to know

    • At least nine people have died related to Debby, most in vehicle accidents or from fallen trees.
    • Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression late Thursday afternoon, and was a post-tropical cyclone on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.

    The worst of the flash flooding in New York so far occurred in villages and hamlets in a largely rural area south of the Finger Lakes, not far from the Pennsylvania border.

    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 multiple roads impassable.

    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 was providing dispatches to The Wellsville Sun. He said he watched people's belongings get carried away by the raging water.

    In Canisteo, farm owners Cliff and Deb Moss suffered heavy damage to their dairy farm, which has been there for more than five decades. A neighbor's double-wide trailer floated down a field to a river during the flooding, said their daughter, Stacey Urban said.

    Urban said the catastrophic damage to the community was still coming into focus, and was hard to fathom.

    "They have lost a lot. Beyond heart breaking," said Urban.

    Ann Farkas, who also lives in Canisteo, said it was the first time her home, one of the oldest in the county, has flooded since she moved there in 1976. She now has to shovel out layers of thick and heavy silt that were left behind.

    “The water’s going down, and so what's left is this really thick — it's like wet concrete — mud,” Farkas said. Her plans are to clean out a garage so furniture can be moved there before the baseboards, floorboards and possibly the subflooring on the first floor can be ripped up.

    “Like a lot of people, I don’t have flood insurance, so I doubt my homeowner’s is going to cover any of this," she said.

    Steuben County manager Jack Wheeler said the storm was hitting some of the same areas as Tropical Storm Fred three years earlier, and that a half-dozen swift water rescue steams were actively retrieving people trapped in vehicles and homes.

    Video below: Tornado damage from Debby

    About 20 evacuees arrived at a Red Cross shelter set up at a high school, Red Cross spokesman Michael Tedesco said. A second shelter was also being set up at another high school in Steuben County.

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency.

    Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield said a National Guard helicopter with aquatic rescue capability was sent to Tioga County because flooding conditions had become severe in the region that runs along the New York state line.

    Padfield said Tioga officials have asked for help with eight to 10 rescue locations, and there are also multiple boat-based rescues being conducted.

    In Potter County, also on the border with New York, the storm took out bridges and did severe damage to Route 49, said Commissioner Bob Rossman.

    "My understanding is the roadway is pretty much well gone," Rossman said. "That'll be a very costly replacement. And one of the main thoroughfares in the county."

    He said one firefighter suffered water-related injuries but Rossman did not know the extent.

    More than 150,000 customers were without power across New York and Pennsylvania, according to PowerOutage.us.

    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.

    In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott warned the remnants of Debby could cause serious damage in the state, including already drenched parts of Vermont that were hit by flash flooding twice last month. Flooding that slammed the northeastern part of the state on July 30 knocked out bridges, destroyed and damaged homes, and washed away roads in the rural town of Lyndon. It came three weeks after deadly flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. President Joe Biden approved Vermont's emergency declaration.

    Video above: Line of storm damage stretches across Pennsylvania communities

    Rick Dente, who owns Dente's Market in Barre, Vermont, worked to protect his business with plastic and sandbags as the rain poured down on Friday. "There isn't a whole lot else you can do," he said.

    Jaqi Kincaid, hit by flooding last month in Lyndon, Vermont, said the previous storm knocked out her garage and well, so they have no water. It also felled a 120-foot tree and took down fencing.

    “We’re doing a lot of this,” Kincaid said, holding her hands together as if in prayer.

    Stormwater swamped parts of downtown Annapolis, Maryland, including at the U.S. Naval Academy on Friday. And flash flooding hit the South Carolina town of Moncks Corner, where one of Debby’s early bands unleashed a tornado on Tuesday. Across the surrounding Berkeley County, emergency crews made 33 high-water rescues.

    There were eight dam breaches in Georgia, half of them in rural Bulloch County northwest of Savannah, Gov. Brian Kemp said. At one point, 140 people were in shelters, he said. Some poultry facilities flooded, and some cattle were lost in flooded pastures, officials said.

    There have been at least nine deaths related to Debby, most in vehicle accidents or from fallen trees.