The Latest: Debby moves inland as the tropical depression soaks the Carolinas

As Tropical Depression Debby drenches the Carolinas, heavy rainfall from the tropical storm is also expected to cause flooding across portions of the mid-Atlantic states and Northeast through Saturday morning. Meanwhile, residents as far away as the Great Lakes and New Jersey have also experienced heavy rains connected to the slow-moving storm.

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Accuweather’s chief meteorologist Jon Porter said Debby will be remembered for its “very slow movement,” dumping large amounts of rain throughout North Carolina.

Some parts of the state saw 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 centimeters) of rain an hour — a rate capable of catastrophic flooding, he said.

And even though the rainfall is ending in some areas, Porter warned people still need to be vigilant about runoff from waterways that could have lingering flooding issues for several days. Heavy rainfall is still expected in northern parts of North Carolina into Thursday night, he said.

Over the next few days, the heaviest rain will be west of the Interstate 95 corridor, especially in more mountainous areas where the terrain forces the storm up in elevation and wrings out its tropical moisture, Porter said. That could lead to flash flooding.

Mid-Atlantic states and parts of New York and New England will also see significant rainfall that could cause dangerous flooding into the weekend, including on parts of I-95 near bigger cities. From eastern Virginia up to Vermont, there may be an active stretch of tornadoes on Friday, he said.

“There will be multiple threats in Debby’s final chapter, and it’s a dangerous one,” he said.

Porter said there’s a “long way to go” for hurricane season, noting the historic peak of the season is in mid-September. He anticipates the next few weeks will be a “more active time period” for major tropical storms to crop up in the Atlantic.

Some residents of Southeast Georgia were warned to brace for additional flooding Thursday even after Debby had cleared out for the Carolinas, as rivers swollen with rainfall overflowed their banks.

The Ogeechee River west of Savannah was forecast to reach its major flood stage Thursday night. The National Weather Service predicted the river would continue to rise before cresting at 19.5 feet (6 meters) early Sunday.

Emergency officials in Effingham County called for residents of two roads near the Ogeechee River to evacuate Thursday. In neighboring Chatham County, which includes Savannah, officials were allowing residents to decide whether to leave.

“Expect water where you have not seen water before,” Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis told a news conference. He added: “If you have a substantial amount of water in your yards, I would say evacuate now while you still have a chance.”

Chatham County officials said rescue teams with boats had already taken 17 people to safety from homes threatened by river flooding. Ellis estimated more than 250 people live in the area.

The National Hurricane Center has downgraded Debby to a tropical depression.

Debby has maximum sustained wind speeds of 35 mph (55 kph), as of the weather service's latest advisory at around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. That's just below the threshold to be classified a tropical storm.

Debby originally made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The slow-moving storm was positioned over North Carolina as of Thursday afternoon.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said one prayer has been answered in his state with no deaths or major damage from Tropical Storm Debby.

Now he said the state is waiting to see how bad flooding upstream gets.

Debby moved out of South Carolina on Thursday afternoon after dumping rain there for more than three days. But McMaster said the storm’s effects aren’t completely over.

Rain falling in North Carolina could swell rivers and cause flooding downstream in South Carolina in several days. Officials won’t know how bad that river flooding will be until the rains stops upstream in a day.

Debby brought widespread heavy rain to South Carolina. The highest total was nearly 16.6 inches (42 centimeters) in Green Pond in Colleton County.

North Carolina has increased the number of National Guard troops activated and added more rescue vehicles into the mix as rains from Tropical Storm Debby continue to drench the state.

The state “continues to face unrelenting rain and destruction from Tropical Storm Debby,” said Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday at a National Guard armory in Kinston.

Some 374 guard members were ready to help respond with 131 vehicles, Cooper said.

One death has been reported in North Carolina after a home collapsed in a likely tornado in Wilson County in one of Debby’s storm bands. The overall death toll from Debby stands at seven.

It doesn’t look like North Carolina will suffer as badly as it did in massive floods from Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. The state has helped repair or rebuild 14,000 homes from that pair of billion-dollar disasters, Cooper said.

Authorities say a tornado death in North Carolina has raised Tropical Storm Debby’s death toll to seven.

The latest death was reported Thursday in Lucama, North Carolina.

Wilson County spokesman Stephen Mann confirmed the death in an email. No further details were immediately provided.

At least six other people have died due to the storm, five of them in traffic accidents or from fallen trees. The sixth death involved a man in Gulfport, Florida, whose body was recovered after his anchored sailboat partially sank.

Interstate 95 in North Carolina has reopened after flooding shut down a part of one of the major highways along the East Coast on Thursday morning.

A portion of the highway around Fayetteville, North Carolina, was closed for about three hours after water topped the freeway, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said.

About 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell in the area overnight.

An average of more than 50,000 vehicles a day pass through the stretch of I-95, the freeway that connects Florida to Maine.

A falling tree smashed the windshield of two deputies patrol cars overnight as they surveyed flooded roads in a North Carolina county.

Bladen County officials posted images overnight of flooded and cracked roads in the county and downed trees.

The sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post that a tree fell on a patrol car, cracking the windshield. The two deputies inside were not injured.

The county also issued a voluntary evacuation order for residents of Bladenboro, with a shelter open at West Bladen High School.

Elsewhere in the state, a part of Interstate 95 around Fayetteville, North Carolina, was shut down after water topped the freeway, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said. Troopers gave no indication of when the interstate could reopen.

In southeastern North Carolina, near the state line, as much as three feet of standing water was reported in Bladenboro.

That prompted authorities to shut down roads into the town.

“Bladenboro has been barricaded off from the rest of the county,” the National Weather Service said in a post on X. The weather service said a flash flood emergency had been declared for the county.

Elsewhere in the state, a part of Interstate 95 around Fayetteville, North Carolina, was shut down after water topped the freeway, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said. Troopers gave no indication of when the interstate could reopen.

Flooding closed one of the major highways along the East Coast on Thursday morning. A part of Interstate 95 around Fayetteville, North Carolina, was shut down after water topped the freeway, the North Carolina Highway Patrol said. Troopers gave no indication of when the interstate could reopen.

At least 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain have fallen in the area since Debby first started crawling toward the region.

An average of more than 50,000 vehicles a day pass through the stretch of I-95, the freeway that connects Florida to Maine.

An apparent tornado spawned as Debby’s outer bands blew through North Carolina damaged at least four houses, a church and a school in Wilson County east of Raleigh, county officials said.

The county said in a statement the tornado touched down around 3 a.m. Thursday. No injuries were immediately reported.

The storm could bring more tornadoes as the day goes on in parts of North Carolina and Virginia, forecasters said.

Debby on Wednesday influenced thunderstorms from the East Coast to the Great Lakes. And the National Weather Service’s office in Charleston said survey teams earlier confirmed four-Debby related tornadoes.

Tropical Storm Debby is heading up the East Coast as it has made landfall for a second time. The National Hurricane Center says Debby came ashore early Thursday near Bulls Bay, South Carolina.

The storm is expected to keep moving inland, spreading heavy rain and possible flooding all the way up through the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast by the weekend. Debby first made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

As Debby drenches South Carolina, heavy rainfall from the tropical storm is also expected to cause flooding across portions of the mid-Atlantic states and Northeast through Saturday morning.

In Bulloch County northwest of Savannah, Georgia, at least four dams have been breached by floodwaters, but so far no fatalities have been reported, authorities said at a Wednesday news briefing.

More than 75 people have been rescued from floodwaters in the county, said Corey Kemp, the county’s director of emergency management. About 100 roads have been closed, he said.

“We’ve been faced with a lot of things we’ve never been faced with before,” Commission Chairman Roy Thompson said. “I’m 78-plus years old and have never seen anything like this before in Bulloch County. It’s amazing what has happened, and amazing what is going to continue to happen until all these waters get out of here.”

Gene Taylor was waiting for a few inches of water to drain back out of his home as high tide passed Wednesday afternoon at his home along French Quarter Creek, not far from the Cooper River in Huger and about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Charleston.

This is the fourth time his home's been flooded in the past nine years, and he heeded the warnings this time, moving things up or out.

“To save everything, we’ve learned from the past it’s better be prepared for the worst. And unfortunately, I think we got it,” Taylor said. “We got caught with our pants down in 2015. We waited, didn’t think the water was going to come up as quick. But it did, and it caught us. We couldn’t even get the vehicles out.”

A few doors down, Charles Granger was cleaning up after about 8 inches (20 centimeters) of water got into his home — a common annoyance now.

“Eight inches disrupts your whole life,” Grainger said. “You don’t get used to it. You just grin and bear it. It’s part of living on the creek.”

Water levels are rising as Tropical Storm Debby's rainfall drains out to sea. The National Weather Service in Charleston tweeted that the Canoochee River in Claxton, Georgia have neared 18 feet, surpassing previous flood record set in 1925.

No deaths or injuries have been reported from Tropical Story Debby in South Carolina, but Gov. Henry McMaster said Wednesday that the state was just entering Act 2 of a three-act play.

“We’ve been lucky so far. Things have not been as bad as they could have been,” McMaster said of heavy rains Monday and Tuesday that caused flooding that damaged over 60 homes but did not cause significant problems to roads or water systems.

Act 2 is overnight into Thursday when Debby moves back onshore and heavy rain returns, this time to the northern part of the coast and inland. An additional 4 to 8 inches of rain could fall, said John Quagliariello, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Columbia.

“It may not be as catastrophic as what we were saying, but we still think as these rain bans develop they could sit over the same area for long periods of time, produce a lot of rainfall and a lot of flooding,” Quagliariello said.

The final act may come next week if enough rain falls upstream in North Carolina to cause major flooding along rivers as it flows to the Atlantic Ocean.

Emily Peterson Dowless, left, walks past her business Market on Main as residual rain water floods the downtown area caused by Tropical Storm Debby, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Bladenboro, NC. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Residual rain water floods the downtown area caused by Tropical Storm Debby, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Bladenboro, NC. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Randy Sikes speaks to his relatives on a mobile phone as he stands in residual rain water flooding the downtown area caused by Tropical Storm Debby, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Bladenboro, NC. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

A golf cart sits in flood waters on Atlantic Ave. as Tropical Storm Debby approaches, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Sullivan's Island, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

A resident measures the depth of the flooded street with storm water from Tropical Storm Debby, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024 Pooler, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Charles Grainger cleans up around his house in the historic district of French Quarter Creek as flood waters recede from Tropical Storm Debby, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Huger, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Gene Taylor watches the flood waters around his house in the historic district of French Quarter Creek as flood waters recede from Tropical Storm Debby, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Huger, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Charles Grainger cleans up around his house in the historic district of French Quarter Creek as flood waters recede from Tropical Storm Debby, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Huger, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Charles Grainger cleans up around his house in the historic district of French Quarter Creek as flood waters recede from Tropical Storm Debby, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Huger, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — For many Haitian immigrants, Sunday mornings in Springfield, Ohio, are spent joyfully worshipping God as they sing and pray in their native Creole. This Sunday, they needed that uplifting balm more than ever.

Their community is reeling — confused, frustrated, hurt — from false accusations that they are eating their neighbor’s cats and dogs. The now viral and highly politicized rumors are being fueled by former President Donald Trump, his running mate JD Vance and others, and violent threats against the community are upending daily life in their city.

“Jesus is with us in truth, and the truth is that Haitians are not eating pets and geese in Springfield,” said the Rev. Carl Ruby, preaching at Central Christian Church. He invited community members to join his congregation in prayer and peaceful protest of the false rumors leveled against their Haitian neighbors.

They also demanded an apology.

“It is truth that a retraction of these rumors will help to restore peace in Springfield," Ruby said. “We respectfully call on all politicians and media figures who are promoting this rumor to help make Springfield great and safe again by speaking the truth about our community.”

Viles Dorsainvil, the leader of Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, accepted Ruby's invitation to worship together at Central Christian, and was grateful to be relying on his faith.

“It’s important to be here because we’re Christian — despite everything, we worship in good times and bad times,” he said. “I’m relieved that I’m in the presence of God. It’s therapeutic.”

And he had a message for Trump and Vance: “If they have the heart of God, they will think differently and speak differently.”

The rumors, spread on social media and by Trump during Tuesday’s televised presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, have exacerbated fears about division and anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of the election in the mostly white, blue-collar city of about 59,000 where more than 15,000 Haitians now live and work.

Thousands of temporary Haitian migrants have legally landed in Springfield in recent years under the U.S.'s Temporary Protected Status program, as longstanding unrest in their home country has given way to violent gangs ruling the streets.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, has said the federal government needs to do more to help cities like Springfield serve the influx of migrants. On ABC’s “This Week," DeWine called the Haitians good, hardworking people who are in the U.S. legally, and said the false rumors are a piece of internet garbage.

“There’s no evidence of this at all,” he said during the program.

Despite the governor and local officials debunking the rumors, Vance reiterated the conspiracy theory on Sunday's “Face the Nation” on CBS while blasting Harris on her U.S.-Mexico border policy.

At Central Christian Church, Ruby encouraged his congregation to help hand out thousands of cards around Springfield that had been printed in Creole and English with a message of support for Haitians. It reads" “I’m glad you are here. Christ loves you and so do I."

As the service ended, Ruby praised parishioners for a beautiful moment amid what he called a storm of chaos. Looking at the Haitian members n the first pew and at the rest of his congregation, he asked them to come together in prayer: “Pray and think what it is to be a Haitian parent sending their child this week to school."

One of those parents is Mia Perez, 35 an immigration lawyer whose 9-year-old daughter had to evacuate her school twice because of bomb threats to a nearby DMV this week.

“Kids in school are being asked by other kids: ’How does the dog taste? How does the cat taste?” Perez said, describing her daughter’s distress.

"She’s asking, 'Are we the kind of Haitians who eat this kind of stuff? Is it true? What’s happening?'”

“This is a conversation that I was not ready to have with my daughter," Perez said. "I felt disrespected of our culture.”

Among those attending Sunday's service in Central Christian was Rose-Thamar Joseph, 40, who works at the Haitian Community Center.

“I was praying for peace and protection — for the Haitian community and all of Springfield," she said. “I just want Springfield to go back to what it was a couple of months ago."

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Carl Ruby, pastor at Central Christian Church, hugs Viles Dorsainvil during service, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Springfield, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Members of the Haitian community, from left, Lindsay Aime, James Fleurijean, Rose-Thamar Joseph, Harold Herard, and Viles Dorsainvil, stand for worship with Carl Ruby, pastor at Central Christian Church, in Springfield, Ohio, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Carl Ruby, pastor at Central Christian Church, hugs Lindsay Aime during service, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Springfield, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Central Christian Church congregants stand to applaud members of the Haitian community during service, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Springfield, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

Members of the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, from left, Lindsay Aime, James Fleurijean, Viles Dorsainvil, and Rose-Thamar Joseph, stand for worship at Central Christian Church, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)