UPDATE: Richmond 'right on the edge' of Tropical Storm Debby; tornado watch continues (2024)

LUCA POWELLRichmond Times-Dispatch

As of around 3 p.m. Thursday, meteorologists predicted the center of the storm system would cross the North Carolina border at around midnight, and would pass through western Virginia during the early hours of Friday.

Forecasters are primarily worried about rainfall, but intersecting winds from the eastern Virginia coastline have also escalated the risk of the storm spinning up tornadoes as far west as Lynchburg.

“It’s a pretty sizeable threat, all the way from the coast to Lynchburg,” said Jeff Orrock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service based in Wakefield.

The tornado risk is substantial because of a collision of winds from the southeast that will create an effect known as shear, which causes gusts of air to rotate into potential tornadoes.

Orrock said the tornado watch would last throughout Thursday night.

“It might take until tomorrow morning until we breathe a sigh of relief,” he said.

Debby made landfall early Monday on the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane and a second landfall early Thursday in South Carolina as a tropical storm. At least seven people have died as the storm drenched Georgia and the Carolinas.

Up to 6 more inches of rain could fall in parts of Maryland, upstate New York and Vermont.

Some disruption Thursday evening

Early Thursday morning, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch advisory for the Hampton Roads region and parts of southern Virginia. It expanded that tornado watch to include Richmond by around 1 p.m.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, the storm had already created several tornadoes that leveled homes and killed one person in North Carolina, according to the Associated Press. One tornado took just 15 seconds to spin up to full force. A person was found dead in a home that suffered tornado damage, the AP reported.

By Thursday evening, some of that disruption arrived in central Virginia. At around 5 p.m., 1,500 homes in the Varina district of Henrico County were without power, according to Dominion Energy. Another severe power outage left around 1,000 homes without power in eastern Powhatan County.

The Virginia Department of Transportation reported at least two downed trees blocking roads in residential areas of Chester.

More disruptions have arrived in Southwest Virginia, where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports at least 20 trees down in the Danville region.

Roanoke, Charlottesville in path

The storm is still adhering to meteorological forecasts, with the center of the system expected to pass through the Shenandoah Valley region of western Virginia.

Roanoke and Charlottesville will be in the direct path of the storm. It is expected to miss Richmond, although central Virginia residents have been told to take precautions.

The weather service predicts heavy rainfall to hit Richmond throughout Thursday and into Friday night, with winds up to 25 mph during that period.

The Virginia National Guard has mobilized emergency response teams in Lynchburg, Danville and Petersburg. The teams are capable of providing emergency rescues via helicopter, as well as delivering food and water to residents in remote areas using tactical trucks that can navigate flood conditions.

The weather service issued a flood watch that includes much of the Richmond area and lasts through Friday evening. The watch says the region could see 2 to 5 inches of rain, with some locally higher amounts.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” the weather service said.

The rain is expected to abate on Friday evening.