Hurricane Debby weakened from Category I status to a tropical storm not long after landfall.

According to CNN, since crashing into Florida on Monday, Debby has dumped more than a foot of rain upon portions of Florida, Georgia and both Carolinas. Rivers and creeks have swollen. Vehicles have hydroplaned along slick or flooded roads. And some people have even been trapped in their vehicles, residences and boats.

But fortunately for Lincoln and Gaston counties, our area is out of the path of Debby’s remnants for the most part. However, points east of Mecklenburg and Union counties––the usual line of bifurcation for the Old North State––have had it entirely worse. Today (Thursday) saw some two inches of rainfall in our western area, with more on the way. The eastern part of the state has endured exponentially worse, with some 10 inches of rainfall affecting a wide swath all the way to Wilmington, according to the National Weather Service.

A power outage of some two hours’ duration affected Stanley, Mount Holly, Belmont and other rural portions of Gaston County on Thursday morning.

Things are expected to start drying up on Saturday, with a lot of sunshine and a high of 89 degrees. And speaking of drying up, with all of said rainfall, our area is no longer under the mild drought it was experiencing mere days ago.