Saudi Embassy extends weather warning as Debby hits US

The Saudi Embassy in the US called on its citizens to remain cautious against the aftermath of Hurricane Debby, which was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday.

In a statement, the embassy said: “In light of the declaration of a state of emergency in a number of states expected to be affected in the coming hours as a result of the aftermath of Hurricane Debby, the embassy calls on its citizens in the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C. to take precaution and abide by the local authorities’ instructions.”

The remnants of Debby churned through the US 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 US 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 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 63cm of rain on its march north and killed at least eight people.