As Tropical Storm Debby brings heavy rains and winds to North Carolina that have resulted in flooding and reports of multiple tornadoes, Baptist Disaster Relief teams are ready to respond.
“We believe that there will be significant flooding and significant needs due to Debby,” according to a statement posted to the N.C. Baptists on Mission website. “We are watching to determine where the greatest needs will be and we are preparing our equipment and volunteers as well as our eastern North Carolina mission camps and rebuild centers in Lumberton, Red Springs, Rose Hill and New Bern so that we are ready to respond.”
Baptists on Mission is planning to deploy a mobile feeding unit, shower and laundry units, and volunteers to an evacuation shelter at an undisclosed location.
Considerable damage
Shortly after first making landfall near the Gulf Coast of Florida early Monday (Aug. 5) as a Category 1 hurricane, Debby was downgraded to a tropical storm as it began slowly moving up the East Coast. The storm battered parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina before slowly making its way into North Carolina.
Debby began impacting parts of North Carolina on Wednesday, and those impacts are expected to last through Friday. The National Weather Service said heavy rainfall that has already impacted much of central and eastern North Carolina is expected to persist all day Thursday and result in considerable flooding. Much of central and eastern North Carolina are under a flood watch until Friday evening, when remnants of the storm are expected to finally move out of the state.
Downed trees, power outages
The National Weather Service also said wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph are possible, which could result in downed trees and power outages.
Isolated tornadoes are also possible until Thursday afternoon. The greatest tornado threat is along the Interstate-95 corridor, but the overall threat extends as far west as the Triangle area.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado went through Sampson County on Wednesday afternoon, and there were reports of other twisters impacting other parts of the state.
A tornado also touched down in Wilson County during the pre-dawn hours Thursday morning that damaged multiple homes, a local middle school and a Primitive Baptist church near the town of Lucama. One man died in a home that collapsed due to the tornado, according to multiple reports. Wilson County Government officials confirmed the fatality in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter).
Eastgate Church in Wilson experienced some minor flooding that was isolated to church offices. The church’s parking lot was also flooded along with area streets.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chad Austin and originally published by Biblical Recorder.
