Tropical Storm Debby expected to make a second landfall on the East coast

Transcript

00:00Tonight, treacherous storms slamming the entire East Coast.

00:06Floodwaters filling the streets of New York and New Jersey.

00:09Cars abandoned.

00:11The region experiencing record-breaking rainfall even before the remnants of Debbie arrive.

00:17Officials in New York City using drones to warn residents.

00:21Be prepared to leave your location if flooding occurs.

00:25Do not hesitate.

00:26Oh, my God.

00:27I never heard it so bad.

00:29It was coming down in buckets.

00:32Overnight, more than 2,000 flight cancellations and delays in the New York City area alone.

00:38And there's a tornado somewhere in the area.

00:42And in Ohio, tornado sirens sent shoppers fleeing.

00:46Strong winds shredding homes, knocking down power lines like dominoes, and flipping this car upright.

00:53Further south, tropical storm Debbie gearing up for another destructive run.

00:58Now churning over the Atlantic, restrengthening before a second landfall on the Carolina coast.

01:04Already today, a tornado touching down in North Carolina.

01:08Residents in Huger, South Carolina rescued by boat after the rising river sent floodwaters rushing in.

01:15As officials in Charleston work desperately to pump water out.

01:20We have never experienced anything like this.

01:23NBC's Erin McLaughlin is in Myrtle Beach.

01:26Here at Myrtle Beach, we're being hit by a pretty significant storm band.

01:30Lots of wind, but it's the rain that authorities are most concerned about.

01:35Now is not the time to see if your car floats, because it doesn't.

01:39Here in Lumberton, crews worked through the night building this makeshift dam, hoping to save off rising waters.

01:46So this might look like a pile of dirt, but what is it to you?

01:50This is hope.

01:52Hope, to avoid a repeat of these desperate scenes from past storms.

01:57When the river comes up, I guess after about 21 feet, it comes through this opening right here and turns all of this into the river.

02:05So it can flood the whole city?

02:07About half of it. This absolutely will save property and lives.

02:13All right, Priscilla joins us tonight from Lumberton, North Carolina.

02:16Priscilla, we can see there some of the measures put in place there, those makeshift levees, if you will.

02:21How concerned are the residents you've been speaking to as Debbie takes aim again there in the Carolinas?

02:27Yeah, Tom, they're very concerned.

02:29Officials tell us that 9-1-1 has been inundated with calls about flooding, evacuations and shelters,

02:35and some wondering whether this makeshift dam is going to hold.

02:39Now, the man who built it tells us that it will, but the people who live on the other side of this dam,

02:44closest to the river, are very concerned.

02:46We just spoke to a resident there who says that if the rain keeps coming down like this, he thinks they'll be okay.

02:52But if it starts to rain harder, they may be in trouble. Tom?

02:56Thanks for watching.

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