The East Coast faces a sprawling flood threat that will shift through the weekend after deadly thunderstorms spawned at least two tornadoes and triggered widespread flash flooding along much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic portions of the Interstate 95 corridor Thursday evening.
THE TAKEAWAY
- Thursday’s thunderstorms spawned two East Coast tornadoes.
- Heavy rain shifts south into Carolinas on Friday.
- Majority of East Coast to face renewed flood risk this weekend.
The East Coast faces a sprawling flood threat that will shift through the weekend after deadly thunderstorms spawned at least two tornadoes and triggered widespread flash flooding along much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic portions of the Interstate 95 corridor Thursday evening.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ENCOUNTER A FLOODED ROAD
An advancing cold front brought a line of powerful thunderstorms to the region during the height of the evening rush and also halted air travel at major East Coast airports.
A Colorado man was struck and killed by lightning in Cape Charles, Virginia, just after 3:30 p.m., according to town officials. A woman was hospitalized in the same incident.
Dover, Delaware, took a direct hit from a tornado just before 6:30 p.m. that damaged buildings and knocked out power from downtown and central Dover east toward the North DuPont Highway corridor.
Tornado damage in Delaware
(Trevor Madonia / FOX Weather)
No injuries have been reported, but police asked people to stay off the roads in the area as crews worked to clear debris and restore power.
This was just the second tornado to strike Kent County since 2021; an EF-1 twister touched down earlier this year on March 16, according to data from NOAA’s National Centers For Environmental Information.
Floodwaters pour into New York City Subway station.
(@KrisTeschner)
Thursday’s thunderstorms produced intense rain rates between 2-3 inches an hour that led to widespread flash flooding across New York City highways and caused Subway stations to flood during the peak of the evening commute. A Flash Flood Warning was issued for both New York and Philadelphia.
Heavy rain slams New York City on Aug. 20, 2026.
(Jarrod Maloney)
The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that a tornado hit the City of Long Beach on Thursday evening. A local beach club in the village of Atlantic Beach said the twister destroyed numerous buildings and cabanas.
Tornado damage City of Long Beach
(City of Long Beach, New York Facebook)
Flood threat shifts south Friday
Torrential rain is expected to shift farther south across the Mid-Atlantic and Carolinas Friday.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, thunderstorms will begin to fire in the afternoon with more intense storms expected to develop in the evening capable of dropping heavy rain and producing wind gusts up to 70 mph.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms across central North Carolina and South Carolina, including Raleigh, Charlotte and Columbia.
(FOX Weather)
A Level 2 out of 4 flash flood threat extends farther north to include southern and central Virginia, including Richmond and Virginia Beach.
A broader Level 1 flood threat stretches from just south of Washington, D.C. to Tallahassee, Florida.
Heavy rain moves up the East Coast through weekend
Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. will be in the bull’s-eye of Saturday’s flood threat as the front stalls over the East Coast.
(FOX Weather)
A Level 1 flood threat covers Boston and Portland, Maine on Sunday.
