Airport delays, tornado watches issued as Storm Debby closes in on NYC
New York City airports experienced ground delays and a tornado threat was issued for parts of New Jersey as remains of Storm Debby closed in on the area Friday morning.
LaGuardia Airport in Queens issued a ground stop due to thunderstorms at 7:15 a.m., which was downgraded to a ground delay by 8:21 a.m., PIX11 said.
Travelers are still expecting delays of over an hour, the outlet noted.
Newark Liberty International Airport also noted departure delays of about 45 minutes, while John F. Kennedy International Airport had backups of about 30 minutes, the FAA said.
A tornado watch was issued for 17 New Jersey counties due to the threat of intense thunderstorms from Debby, which was officially downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone by the National Hurricane Center.
The entire state was also under a wind advisory, as gusts of up to 50 mph were anticipated.
Parts of New York state just northwest of New York City and eastern Pennsylvania were also under a tornado watch, ABC News’ Ginger Zee reported.
There is no tornado watch in New York City, but the area is under a wind advisory from the National Weather Service.
Most of upstate New York and central Pennsylvania were also under a flood watch.
The ferocious storm was expected to bring rain, heavy wind and flooding to the tri-state area when it arrives later Friday.
Many areas will receive 3 to 7 inches of rain, which could create “locally catastrophic flooding,” the National Weather Service warned.
As of early Friday, Debby was ravaging parts of the coastal Carolinas before moving north through Virginia and Maryland with wind speeds of up to 30 mph, the National Hurricane Center indicated.
Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane along Florida’s Big Bend on Monday.
The storm dumped over 20 inches of rain on the southwest portion of the state and knocked out power for more than 300,000 customers.
Debby made a second landfall in South Carolina on Thursday as a tropical storm.
Parts of the East Coast are set to experience heavy rains through Sunday, with the highest totals expected along the Interstate 95 corridor from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast.
As of Friday morning, at least seven people were known to have died as a result of the storm.
