Debby's remnants spread heavy rain to mid-Atlantic, New England

By Rich McKay and Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) -The remnants of Debby churned through the U.S. mid-Atlantic toward New England on Friday, bringing heavy rains that could trigger flash flooding from Maryland to Vermont before the onetime hurricane blows out to sea this weekend.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings and tornado watches for parts of an area stretching from coastal Georgia to Vermont, as the storm moved northeast at 35 miles (56 km) an hour, considerably faster than earlier in the week.

The storm, which was downgraded to a post-tropical depression, was centered near the border of central Pennsylvania and New York state late on Friday morning.

Debby, a slow-moving storm for most of the week, has dropped as much as 25 inches (63 cm) of rain on its march north and killed at least eight people.

Since making its first landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Florida's Gulf Coast on Monday, Debby has submerged homes and roadways, and forced evacuations and water rescues as it slowly crawled up the Eastern Seaboard.

The weather service fielded reports of a handful of tornadoes since Thursday. In Browns Summit, North Carolina, about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Raleigh, a 78-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on her mobile home, NBC affiliate WXII reported, citing law enforcement.

Earlier, a twister killed a man when his house collapsed in Wilson County in eastern North Carolina. It damaged at least 10 houses, a church and a school.

As of Friday morning, some 300,000 homes and businesses were without power in the region, Poweroutage.us said.

North and South Carolina have been hit hardest by Debby's prodigious rainfall.

In the South Carolina town of Moncks Corner, swift-water rescue teams were mobilized on Friday as dangerous flash flooding forced evacuations and the closure of an interstate highway.

Earlier in the week, a tornado buzzed through Moncks Corner, about 50 miles (80 km) north of Charleston, flipping cars and wrecking a fast-food restaurant.

The storm is expected to produce another 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 cm) of rainfall across parts of southeastern North Carolina, leading to maximum storm total amounts as high as 15 inches (38 cm).

Additional rainfall of 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm) over parts of eastern South Carolina will bring maximum storm total amounts as high as a staggering 25 inches (63 cm).

Further north, about 10 inches (25 cm) of rain were forecast to accumulate in Virginia, while 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) were expected for parts of Maryland to Vermont before Debby is done.

In Barre, Vermont, about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of the capital Montpelier, Rick Dente spent his morning securing plastic tarps over the roof and surrounding the doors with sandbags at his family-owned store, Dente's Market.

Vermont, which is under a state of federal emergency, has already faced a slew of rainstorms from a separate system that has washed out roads, damaged homes and swollen rivers and creeks with floodwaters.

The remnants of Debby could bring another 3 inches (7.6 cm)or more rain, the weather ervice said.

"We're worried," said Dente, thinking about the store that has been in the family since 1907, and he has run since 1972. Once a grocery store, it now caters mostly to tourists seeking antiques and keepsakes.

"Everytime it rains, it's worse," he said. "I worry every time it rains."

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Jonathan Oatis)